Black Leadership Conference examines professional challenges

Black
Leadership Conference examines professional challenges
…………………………………………………………………

BY MAILEEN HAMTO
Special to the Rice News

Integrity, hard
work, dedication, respect and accountability — all
are important in furthering one’s path toward personal
and professional growth, said prominent business and community
leaders at the third annual Black Leadership Conference
held at Rice April 27.

Keynote speakers
addressed challenges and offered strategies for “Seizing
Opportunities in a Fluid Economy.”

Increasing diversity
and globalization require fundamental changes in the ways
companies conduct business, said Steve Miller, chief executive
officer, chairman and president, Shell Oil Co. Globalization,
demographic shifts and changing technology have spurred
tough competition for talented individuals who work successfully
in diverse, multinational, even virtual teams.

“There
is a clear business case for diversity. You’re at war
with others for talent, and the companies that win have
the most ‘best’ people. They are able to attract
and retain a broader cross section of talented employees,”
Miller said.

Effectively
communicating a company’s commitment to inclusion with
external and internal audiences was important in ensuring
the success of Shell’s diversity efforts. “It’s
important that the entire organization understands that
it’s everybody’s job,” he said. “For
diversity to become effective, it must be communicated frequently
and communicated well.”

Defining measurement
standards and setting clear goals are important, Miller
said. “You also have to provide the resources to do
the job properly and recognize the level of effort it takes
to get the job done well.”

More importantly,
an organization’s genuine commitment to diversity is
key. “We have to act our way into a new way of thinking
and not think our way into a new way of acting,” Miller
said.

Commitment and
goal-oriented action have catapulted Samuel Golden to the
post of ombudsman, comptroller of the currency, U.S. Treasury.

Starting his
career in banking as a young black man during the 1970s
posed many challenges for Golden, but with perseverance,
dedication and the generosity of mentors, his rise to the
top was steady but slow.

When he didn’t
get selected for fast-track management programs where young,
up-and-coming finance professionals sharpen their skills
and advance rapidly, Golden did not allow himself to be
discouraged.

“What’s
most damaging to one’s career is early departure from
an organization because of frustration with the good-old-boy
system,” Golden said. “I’ve learned not to
be dissuaded by lack of apparent diversity in an organization,
to be prepared and stay the course. I knew that I have the
obligation to always be ready for any opportunity.”

Golden found
that perseverance and preparation led to more important,
high-profile projects. “It sent a message that I was
competent,” he said.

Learning from
and nurturing a relationship with capable, generous mentors
also was important, Golden said. “I was mentored by
three middle-aged white men who saw something in a little
black boy from the wrong side of the tracks,” he said.
“They were honest and candid and willingly spoke up
for me when I was unjustly criticized, stereotyped by others.
This took courage.”

Maintaining
one’s credibility, integrity, humility and dependability
is central to success. “It’s always been important
to me to mean what I say, to do what I say I will and when
I say it, do it. I’ve learned that keeping one’s
word defines who you are.”

Service and humility
are the hallmark traits of any great leader, said Hazel
O’Leary, U.S. secretary of energy during the Clinton
administration. “Leaders are servants who serve their
people with deep humility,” O’Leary said.

A black woman
working in corporate law and eventually serving as a member
of the U.S. Cabinet, O’Leary said her experiences have
confirmed the reality of the “double standard”
that exists in any organization, public or private. “There
are higher standards for women and minorities,” she
said.

Awareness and
respect for an organization’s culture is an effective
way to combat the double standard. “It’s important
to recognize and respect the rules of the road, even if
you don’t embrace the culture of the organization,”
she said.

Service and
leadership go hand in hand, but accountability distinguishes
great leaders, said Brooke Stephens, author, lecturer and
financial commentator for “PBS Business Report.”

“Dr. Martin
Luther King served with quality, integrity, hard work and
humility,” Stephens said. “If one is going to
be a leader, one has to be in a position of service and
follow his example.”

Questioning
the moral standards of present-day leaders of the black
community, Stephens raised a challenge to acknowledge the
shortcomings of popular leaders who lead with no clear agenda.

“We need
to reassess who we support as our leaders and why,”
she said. “Why do we hold ranks behind media-hungry
leaders who champion poorly thought-out messages, running
on a mission of total confusion?”

Leaders who can
offer solutions, and not merely lip service, to problems
facing the black community are badly needed, she said. “We
all know what our problems are. If you don’t have a
solution to a problem, then don’t discuss it.”

Holding leadership
accountable to strong moral standards is important in ensuring
that the goals of the community are carried out, Stephens
believes.

“Let’s
honor the sacrifices that were made by Dr. King and others
who sought equality and justice for all people,” Stephens
said. “Instead of following whoever is in the national
scene, we need to specify the goals we want to achieve.”

Since the launch
of the annual Black Leadership Conference, more than 600
graduate business students, lawyers, accountants, engineers,
health care professionals, educators and entrepreneurs from
across Texas have attended the event. The result of a collaboration
among the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management,
the National Black MBA Association-Houston Chapter and the
Association of Rice University Black Alumni, the conference
has brought together black business leaders, political figures
and community leaders.

— Maileen
Hamto is the assistant director of public relations at the
Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management.