Built to lead (Image: Thinkstock)

One of the most appealing characteristics of professional sports is the idea that there’s a meritocracy in place—the best players get to play. But one thing you won’t see amidst the pageantry this weekend as the New York Giants face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI is an African American taking the snaps.

While both teams boast elite starting quarterbacks, this coveted position has often eluded many black athletes—particularly at the professional level. As the field generals of the team, a study indicates that racial stereotyping is playing a role. And this same stereotype is what results in so few African Americans at the upper echelons of the corporate hierarchy. Case in point, African Americans make up nearly 13% of the US population; but in 2009 only 1% of the CEOs of the largest 500 publicly traded companies were black.

In the study, published by the Academy of Management Journal, more than 600 sports news articles representing all 119 NCAA Division I colleges were analyzed. “We cast a fairly wide net and again what allowed us to do this was that, there are 80-plus white quarterbacks, there are 30-plus black quarterbacks, and so we really wanted to capture this phenomenon, and we wanted to do it at the highest level of college football,” says Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, a professor of organizational behavior at Duke University, and one of the two authors of “Explaining Bias Against Black Leaders: Integrating Theory on Information Processing and Goal-Based Stereotyping.”

Rosette adds that despite that the most recent Heisman Trophy winners, Robert Griffin and Cam Newton, are both African American quarterbacks. “We don’t believe this negates the aspect, because two superstars do not a trend make.”

(Image: ThinkStock)

The study concludes that black leaders are not evaluated comparably to their white counterparts, resulting in severe consequences for black organizational members and also finds that bias against black leaders is sustained because the way evaluators subscribe to stereotypes. In short, if a black quarterback leads his team successfully, he’s a gifted athlete, not a great leader. But if he fails, he’s a poor leader. “A problem I find in here, is regarding how African Americans are perceived,” says Rosette.

According to Rosette, this is an example of compensatory stereotypes, as they compensate for a negative stereotype, but does not conflict with that negative stereotype. So we looked at it in college football, and that compensatory stereotype would be athleticism.  So the African American quarterbacks, who are leaders on the field, and have led their team to victory, they have led successfully, are not described as good leaders, but instead are described in this compensatory term, which is athleticism, and there are several examples in terms of how this could move from the football field to the actual corporate environment.

According to the data, an African American who is placed in a leadership role as a quarterback must contend with certain perceptions that they’re going to have to overcome simply because they are not expected to be in that role, and secondly are not expected to do well in that role. While there’s currently an African American in the White House, Obama represents more of an aberration than a trend. “I think what would cause a change is, when the expectations of the race of our leaders changes,” says Rossette. “When you think, what’s going to be the race of our next president after Obama? I can probably guess, most people in general would say it’s probably going to be another white person.”

(Image: Thinkstock)

You’ve excelled to the top position after all your hard work has paid off. Your skills and aptitude for maximizing results for the company has resulted in that dream promotion, and your vertical move is now a reality after years of strategic steps.

But what’s next? Nothing’s worst than reaching the top only to see a swift decline because the position can’t be managed or maintained. Even though you’ve reached a career height, one must still make moves to stay there and keep pushing, motivating others while holding the key to longevity and job security.

AOL Jobs tells just how to do that, offering 3 tips for how you can play your new star position well.

Read more at AOL Jobs …

Game on: Avery Johnson calls the plays (Image: Press)

During his days as a point guard for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and other teams, he was nicknamed the “Little General.” At a modest (by NBA standards) 5-foot-11, Avery Johnson showed the leadership skill that enabled him to transition into coaching once his playing days were over.

Johnson gained notoriety by coaching the Dallas Mavericks to their first NBA Finals appearance and four consecutive 50-plus win seasons. Now, as head coach for the New Jersey Nets, the 46-year-old hopes to turn the beleaguered team around. He now has his work cut out for him, as the Nets finished up a dismal 12-70 the season prior to Avery’s appointment. In his first year as coach, the team improved somewhat to 24-58, but finishing just two games ahead of the last place Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference.

BlackEnterprise.com caught up with Johnson to talk about qualities in a good leader and how one can turn around the performance of an organization. Here’s what he had to say:

BLACK ENTERPRISE: You inherited a team that was perhaps the worst in the league.  How did you work to keep players motivated after such disappointment?

Avery Johnson: One of the first things we had to do was figure out how to change the culture within the whole organization.  We addressed that, obviously, with new ownership with Mikhail Prokhorov and our Russian group.  We’ve also made some other key strategic moves within the organization to eliminate in some areas, retain in other areas, but also add a different type of person with the right kind of DNA that we need to get the next elevated and catapulted in what I call a successful direction.  I think our focus, initially, and my focus has been more internal with auxiliary staff, also key upper level management positions to address those first. Then, in terms of the team, I had to sign some free agents, allow some guys to go and join other teams, and really just try to get my arms around this whole model in terms of how this team practices, how they travel, how they play games, how they retain information.

How do you change your culture?  Give me the biggest thing, the most significant thing that was done, other than new ownership, to change the culture?

Avery Johnson: You change it by bringing in…you can just call it the C Plan.  You change it by bringing in people with strong character, individuals who are competitors, who are confident, who know how to communicate well.  That’s how you change it.  You bring in individuals with that type of DNA.

When you start talking about the distractions, and especially the media plays a big part of everything, what do you do to keep the players focused?

Avery Johnson: I think, strategically, you get them focused on small victories.  For us, it’s about small victories.  It’s about baby steps.  Can we have a really good practice?  And, if we can have a good practice, can we come back and have another good practice?  Then, can we transfer having a good practice into winning a quarter in the game?  Can we win the first half?  Now, can we win the game? After we win the game, can we come back and have another good practice and have a good shoot around.  I think for us, can we get stronger in the weight room? It’s all about small victories, short-term goals.

What do you think are the most important qualities of leadership?  And how do you employ them now as a coach?

Avery Johnson: I think leadership is about education, being educated and competent in what you’re doing.  Leadership is about development, developing players mentally and physically, also developing in a way that they understand that this is a business, and their relationships to the community and sponsors are important also.  Leadership is about accountability, not only holding someone else accountable, but also holding yourself accountable.  Leadership is about decisions, making decisions that are in the best interest of the team first and not yourself.  I could go on and on, but that’s what…and leadership is also about resolving conflict.  You have differences of opinion and disagreements; but you have games where…games get pretty intense.  How do you resolve conflict?   Also, leadership is about understanding how to get to a desired result.

The Nets aren’t the most talented team in the league right now. How do you plan to get the most out of them?

Avery Johnson: The main thing is, t starts with having players that understand the need to train intensely in the off season.  We feel we gave them the necessary tools at the end of the season so that they can go and improve themselves in the off season.  We also understand that your great cultures, they have great players; and we know we have to improve our talent pool.

At the same time, we feel we’re going to be one of the preeminent franchises in basketball with us moving to Brooklyn, what I call a Taj Mahal of arenas in the Barclays Center, great ownership that’s willing to spend money in whatever area wisely to make sure that we have everything we need to be successful.  Jay-Z is really becoming more and more active in our ownership group, especially with us moving to Brooklyn, partnering with our Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov and Bruce Ratner.  We feel we’re a team that can go from worst to first.

Artists Meek Mill and Rick Ross tout perks of being a boss with radio hit, "I'm a Boss." (Image: File)

I love me some Rick Ross … (Wait, before you close this window. It gets better. Trust me.)

Seriously. He’s one of my favorite hip-hop artists, with his cocky bravado, Santa Claus-like, tattooed belly, and larger-than-life persona.

Much of Rick Ross’ music centers around being a leader who makes his own lane, creates his own rules and practically answers to no one. There’s a level of confidence and power in his music that can’t be denied, one that often transfers to me when listen to it—questionable content aside. (Not to mention he’s a real-life boss as founder and CEO of Maybach Music Group.)

He, along with many popular music stars, have made what I call a “boss mentality” one coveted and adopted by young people all over the world. And as with any pop culture concept that takes on a life of its own, today’s “boss mentality,” especially among young people, has become the new overexposed green monster.

From 20-something divas boasting about cars, money and men, to young hustlers and businessmen trading stories of their latest conquests, the “boss mentality” has become one based on greed and pride, and built on unrealistic perceptions of what it takes to be a real boss. Even kids are buying into it, barely knowing their ABCs, but singing every word to Meek Mill’s latest hit (with Rick Ross), “I’m a Boss.”

GetaClue.org (as one of my favorite bossy divas, Tamar Braxton, would put it). A true boss practices due diligence to ensure their lives — in every aspect — will be as prosperous and purposeful as possible, all talk aside. They know that the material fruits of their labors are only a small part of the full picture.

Just look at the lives and works of today’s top, real-world bosses, from Tina Wells (Buzz Marketing Group) to Oprah to Magic Johnson to Dr. Farrah Gray (Gray Publishing) — all leaders who took the boss mentality and made their dreams reality with hard work and lucrative action. Even the bosses who aren’t so shy about their wealth — Sean “Diddy” Combs — have earned the bragging rights and can show and prove.

If you don’t have (or aren’t pursuing) the foundations for wealth building: estate plan, savings accounts, an investment portfolio, fair or good credit, and multiple streams of income, you’re not quite a boss.

If you have a closet full of luxury brands, but still cashing checks at the local check cashing spot because you don’t have a bank account, you’re not quite a boss.

Popping $300 bottles in clubs but haven’t paid Dr. Rent, Mr. Child Support or Ms. Student Loan …

Purchasing inexpensive things on credit that should be bought with cash …

Dodging bill collectors‘ calls or cleverly avoiding debts …

Living in the today without planning for a future that could sustain you and your family …

Lacking the means to invest tangible or intangible capital in your family or community …

NOT. A. BOSS.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the fruits of one’s labor, but I’ve witnessed too many people claiming to be bosses who have not one qualification to show for it.

I’m not a full boss yet, but I’d like to think I’m in training. I aspire to one day become self-sufficient in all aspects of my life, and pave the way for others to capture their own “bosshood.” I like to take pages from the books of my favorite leaders and mentors, while using my own boss mentality, skills and intelligence to pursue success and fulfill my purpose.

I would challenge anyone else to do the same. Leave the false perception of easy, materialistic bosshood for entertainment and actively take steps to capture the reality of your own greatness.

SHARE YOUR STORY: Comment below about your latest boss move and how it’s getting you that much closer to ultimate success.

Pamela Eudaric-Amiri (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR contributor Annette Flournoy sits down with Pamela Eudaric-Amiri, the founder and President of Chocolate Secrets, a gourmet chocolate and fine wines cafe in Dallas. Her company has earned numerous awards, including being recognized by The Dallas Observer as the “Best Chocolate Indulgence.”

She is also the president of two other Dallas-based companies, Green Earth Metal Recycling, an environmentally and socially responsible enterprise, and Joe Carter Construction. Eudaric-Amiri shares how she launched Chocolate Secrets after pursuing a successful career as an attorney.

Also, UBR Contributor Renita Young speaks with Dr. Scott J. Allen, an assistant professor at John Carroll University and co-author of The Little Book of Leadership Development: 50 Ways to Bring Out The Leader in Every Employee (AMACOM). Allen, who teaches leadership and management at John Carroll, consults, conducts workshops and leads retreats across the country. Allen is also founder of the Center for Leadership Development. He sits down with Young to share why leadership development is a key requirement for entrepreneurial success.

In addition, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.

And finally, in my “Alfred’s Notepad” segment, I share the secret ingredient that makes the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, held in Atlanta earlier this week, such a must attend event for entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners. Go to www.BlackEnterprise.com/ec to see exclusive slideshows, galleries, blogs, articles and live stream footage of events ranging from workshops to exclusive one-on-one conversations with Lisa Price and MC Hammer, to the Elevator Pitch Competition, our annual Small Business Awards luncheon (hosted by UBR sponsor Ariel Investments), the Black Enterprise 100s awards dinner, and so much more.

If you missed this year’s event, I’ve got good news for you: The 2012 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference will be in Chicago from May 23-26. Needless to say, you don’t want to miss it when the largest annual gathering of Black entrepreneurs in America comes to the Windy City.

If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.

Alfred Edmond Jr.

Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each Wednesday for The UBR Morning Post, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.

(Image: Shutterstock)

While many people are fans of the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, many of us struggle to ingrain those principals into our lives. It takes an estimated 21-28 days to transform an action into a habit. For close to a month, one must remain diligent about both his attitude and actions in order to adopt these 7 worthwhile habits. What I hope to provide is a basic overview of each of the habits, as well as a few actions you can do right now and in the future in order to instill these life lessons into one’s everyday life.

Read more at The Atlanta Post…

“It was a company well positioned in its industry—the largest in revenue, the largest in fleet size, having the greatest number of branches, and just the broadest presence overall. There’s a lot of opportunity for this organization to lead,”  he says.

Plummer also believed that he had the talent and experience to help get them there. As chief financial officer of Dow Jones & Co., the leader in business news and financial information, he had set policy for global finance and corporate strategy. And as vice president and treasurer of Alcoa Inc., the leading aluminum producer, his responsibilities included managing relationships with commercial and investment banks. Aside from the business potential, Plummer was most interested in working for United’s president and CEO, Michael J. Kneeland, who was looking not only for a financial expert but a business strategist.

It wasn’t long after Plummer accepted the position of CFO in 2008 that he and the management team had to steer the company through one of the worst recessions in U.S. history. Through an overarching initiative called Operation United, they focused on a major corporate restructuring of the 14-year-old company to grow customer segments, realign processes, and revamp compensation programs and operating systems. In the last two years, Plummer has been able to slash costs across the business by $500 million. At press time, United Rentals reported fourth quarter revenues of $597 million, up from $557 million for the fourth quarter in 2009, surpassing analysts’ expectations by more than $22 million. Here Plummer discusses what collaborative leadership looks like and how it drives business success.

What was CEO Michael Kneeland looking for when he hired you?
Michael had a vision to be the clear, undisputed leader of the industry. He wanted someone who could help drive that thought process and find initiatives to be much more profitable. He was looking for a partner, and that was very attractive to me. I’ve done a lot of things in my career that have positioned me to be a strong partner in deciding strategy, direction, and key initiatives in a corporation.

What are the benefits of collaborative leadership?
Obviously, Michael is the CEO but to the extent that you can fit together two people or more who have strengths that complement each other, then you will get a better result across the corporation. That’s why it works well between Michael and me. He’s got long experience in the industry. He’s got long experience in this company. He knows the people. He knows the product. And he’s got a good sense of the organization’s limitations. [My] experience is in managing capital structure. Managing and dealing with investors is something I’ve brought to the table.

How do you avoid it being an awkward dance?
The key is managing the integration of those strengths and doing it in a way that doesn’t provoke conflict. Mike and I work very well together. There’s not a lot of ego conflict. If you look at circumstances at other companies where people try to leverage each other’s strengths, very often it degenerates into an ego battle and one person says, ‘Hey, I’ve got to dominate the situation’ and the other person is saying, ‘I got a better idea,’ and it devolves into a battle.

You both also share the same strategies in managing through crisis.
It’s a vital part of what we’ve been able to do. We certainly get dragged into the fire of the moment but you can’t just go in and do, do, do, based on what drops on your desk during the course of the day. You’ve got to be able to push back and  say, ‘Where are we going, what are the set of objectives we need to be focused on, and how do we support those over the longer haul?’ As a finance person, I’ve been trained by an economic way of thinking: The economists would say you’ve always got to be thinking about the future. You’ve always got to ask yourself: ‘How can I drive better performance over time?’ The nature of business is to balance the things you need to deal with today against where you’re headed and how you’re going to get there in the future. Mike has a very similar point of view.  I think it’s one of the reasons we sync up so nicely. You’ve got to force yourself to always look down the road even as you’re dealing with what’s going on today. 

For some people, the thought of having haters is as fascinating as wondering about life on other planets. And just as pointless. (Curiously, people respond to or talk about their haters, but they rarely block them.) What’s to gain from obsessing about it? My point of view is this: We need to stop hating on our haters. Without them, we probably would not ever come close to achieving our full potential, much less greatness. That’s right, I said it. If you want to be great and do great things, be grateful for haters—you need them.

Have the courage to ask yourself: Could my haters be right? What do they see that my supporters don’t—or do, but don’t have the guts to say? Those who openly oppose you are often the ones who see you most clearly. Just because someone is envious of you, disagrees with you or does not like you does not necessarily mean that their views are totally inaccurate and that you have nothing to learn from them.

In fact, my experience has shown just the opposite. It’s mostly my haters, not my friends, family or “peeps,” who refused to pretend I looked good in that $100 suit, that my presentation skills didn’t suck or that my writing was genius. Friends are full of dishonest approval—they’ll tell you what makes you feel good. After all, they don’t want to discourage you, hurt your feelings or get you mad at them. Haters are far more honest in their criticism than your supporters are in their praise.

That’s why it’s important to be mature enough to listen—not necessarily agree, but truly listen—to your haters. Being able to sift through people’s envy and bad intentions toward you for the valuable truths in their criticism is often a key to greatness—and sometimes even survival. Because, as much as we hate to admit it, sometimes the haters are right. The truth is, haters are good at pointing out our weaknesses precisely because they are being critical—unlike our supporters, they are looking for our flaws. Allowing your haters to point out your vulnerabilities is a great way to address them before they can be exploited.

So, I’ll take honest criticism over dishonest approval every time. You can always disagree with honest criticism. And it can help you keep your game tight. But too much dishonest approval will have you busted, disgusted, alone, unemployed and/or incarcerated. I’ve seen far more people done in by those who blindly approve of everything they say and do, than I’ve seen get destroyed by their critics. Haters can’t really hurt you unless you let them. But being surrounded by people cosigning on everything you do can literally get you killed.

But here’s the real reason you should be grateful for your haters: They will never just admit you’re right, you’re wonderful, you’re better than they are; they’ll force you to prove it. The need to prove haters wrong has always been a far more powerful motivator than the desire to justify the faith of supporters. It’s not our most loyal fans, but our most hated rivals who drive us to bring our A games and force us to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves. For those of us who truly want to be the best at what we do, it’s our haters, not our supporters, who are more likely to motivate us to put in the 10,000 hours of practice Malcolm Gladwell says is necessary to achieve mastery in his book Outliers: The Story of Success. We let our fans (family, friends, even ourselves) down all the time. But we’ll be damned if we’ll let our haters see us at less than our best. Your fans may support and sustain you. But it’s your haters that force you to put up or shut up. And your haters are usually far more reliable than your fans are.

That’s why champions grow to respect their “haters.” They’ve learned that you can’t achieve greatness without them. Shepherd boy David needed Goliath and the Philistines to become King David. Muhammad Ali needed Joe Frazier and George Foreman to become the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of all time.) Michael Jordan and the Bulls needed Patrick Ewing and the Knicks (and especially their true haters, Knick fans). And you can’t convince me that Venus and Serena Williams would have all of those Grand Slam titles if the tennis world had welcomed them with open arms. By the way, these examples prove that appreciating what your haters have to say does not mean you should surrender to them. In fact, the best way to show you appreciate your haters is to hear them out, using their criticisms to identify and correct your weaknesses and get you focused and fired up to whip that a—ahem—win, anyway.

“Alfred, do you have a lot of haters?,” someone asked me on Twitter the other day. I’m sure I do, though I have no idea how many or even who most of them are. All I know is I’ve learned some of my best lessons at the hands of people I considered to be some of my toughest haters. Some of them may have really hated me. Still others were truly jealous and wanted to bring me down. Others may have actually thought they were doing me some good. No matter what their motivation, I’ve learned to value my opposition and to be open to their criticisms. I’d rather have real haters than fake fans.

So go ahead. Call out your haters. But don’t say it like it’s a bad thing. Get past their motives and how they say what they say. Focus on the content of their message and try to see what they see. And don’t be so obsessed with haters that you become one yourself. Because some of y’all on Twitter and Facebook really just need to let it go and get a life. Not trying to hate. I’m just saying.

Now, where my hatas at?

Be sure to read this related content…

• Is It Constructive Feedback or Hating?
• 4 Ways to Give and Take Criticism

Leadership isn’t about getting things done yourself – it’s about accomplishing things through others, says Hill, co-author of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader (Harvard Business Review Press). The book, scheduled for release January 13, 2011, highlights what Hill believes are the most important rules to effective workforce management. Here are Hill’s three leadership imperatives:

Manage yourself. Entrepreneurs have to be aware of the influence they have on their ventures. With fewer checks and balances than someone managing a team in a large corporate entity, it is even more important for an entrepreneur to be aware of his or her strengths and weaknesses. “If you’re the owner of a business, we know how you behave and how you do things has a major impact on the culture of the organization and the kind of outcomes you see in the organization,” she says.

Manage a network. When people think of managing and leadership, they tend to think of those who report to them. But real management is about influence – both within your organization and outside of it, asserts Hill. Both require effective management. “If you’re not managing your team right and get that working right you’re not going to be able to manage the network of relationships you need to manage to create the conditions necessary for your organization to be successful,” she says. For example, a CEO focusing solely on managing the internal network won’t have the time to maintain relationships clients, suppliers and vendors – those who can help identify opportunities within the industry.

Manage a team: Many managers never grasp the critical difference between creating a team and simply managing a collection of individuals, says Hill. “A lot of very senior people have a tendency to manage one-on-one and think that’s the same as managing a team,” she says. “There’s a difference between getting your one-on-one relationships right as compared to building a team and thinking about putting the right culture in your organization so people will have the right attitudes and values you need to them to have to get the business done.”

There’s no cookie-cutter formula for finding the right balance of time and resources when it comes to focusing on these imperatives, so each entrepreneur will have to determine what works best for them. But particularly when business conditions are poor and competition is fiercer than ever, it’s clear that the old rules of business are outdated. “In today’s dynamic business environment, we all have to be prepared to reinvent ourselves time and again and reinvent our organizations,” Hill asserts. “What that means is we need to make sure that there’s a tight connection between doing our daily work and also learning and evolving over time.”

Read more on leadership building for entrepreneurs.

• How to sell anything to anybody
• VIDEO: How to get into the global marketplace
• How to affect positive change in your business