Soul management - excerpted from "Soul in Management"

Black Enterprise, Nov, 1997 by Richard F. America, Bernard E. Anderson

YOU'RE AMBITIOUS AND educated, yet a victim of corporate politics. After years of scaling workplace hurdles, many black managers are questioning whether succeeding in the corporate environment is worth it. If you too are confused the book Soul in Management: How African-American Managers Thrive in the Competitive Corporate environment puts it all into perspective. Chronicling the experiences of more than 100 black managers, the book offers a concise guide for corporate newcomers and veterans. The authors, Richard F. America and Bernard E. Anderson, reveal that although the catchall phrase "diversity" echoes throughout corporate America, it continues to be drowned out by the din of racism.

This pragmatic, easy-to-read survival guide advises African American managers not to waste time confronting discriminators, but to sharpen their skills, build professional credibility, make contacts and either move up or move out. In this excerpt, learn the truth behind some of the most common workplace fallacies.

African American managers seem prone to accept seven fundamental misconceptions about race in the corporate environment. Unfortunately, the following fallacies are merely smokescreens that cover up the real problems:

1. Corporate self-interest should reduce discrimination and lead to fairness, It's often asserted by academics, journalists, and senior managers that corporations should remove racial ceilings and should practice affirmative action because the status quo wastes talent and is bad for the company and bad for the country. It's certainly true that wasting talent is bad for your employer and for society. But the way this is usually presented is based on a shaky assumption: that merely pointing this out will be constructive and will change behavior.

That's unlikely, because those white managers who still discriminate is assignments, rewards and promotions don't define what's good for the company or country the same way you define it. They want to maintain the racial status quo or even turn back black advances made so far. You can see that clearly by reading between the lines of many conservative corporate commentators in Forbes, Fortune and the Wall Street Journal, arguing against affirmative action and "preferences." So, calling for justice by arguing that it's in the self-interest of those who perpetuate injustice won't work. They don't agree that what you prefer is in their self-interest. They decide their own self-interest, not even the interest of the company. And it's based on maximizing their personal advantages over you--individual and group, economic and noneconomic.

It's naive and useless to appeal to their presumed rational motives and ask them to play fair "because it pays." They don't think it pays. They message falls on deaf ears. And sending it demands you, because it comes from weakness and supplication. The premise that discriminators really only hurt themselves and would be better off accepting diversity may be true, but you'll never convince the discriminators. Don't waste time and energy trying.

2. Ceilings will be removed if you complain. You hear a lot about ceilings. The popular sense is that black managers seldom get beyond middle management. And racism explains this blockage.

A better view is this: Yes, there seems to be a ceiling. But it's higher than it was 10 years age. It will be higher 10 years from now. But there will still be an upper limit on aspirations and advancement, especially in Old Guard companies.

Black managers and business writers complains about such limits. But what's fair has nothing to do with it. Corporations are political, social, and cultural institutions. So don't expect entrenched managers to step aside to let people who seem different in outlook gain influence and authority and implement changes.

There will be breakthroughs. The ceiling will shift upward. But most black managers must face up, ship out or accept ceiling situations. So work smart. Gain technical expertise. Become a knowledgeable, skilled manager and leader. Add value. Get a track record. Develop contacts and networks. And then choose where you want to be, where you want to go.

You can choose to accept the ceiling and find satisfaction intrinsically in your tasks, or leave and go where there's a more hospitable, open culture and political environment, which more and more often means going to black-owned and-managed businesses. If that turns out to be the case, then ceilings in the Fortune 1000 may unwittingly help accelerate development of large, competitive African American firms by diverting much of the best talent to their offices.

Indeed, for black managers part of the solution to the problem of career impediments is the emergence of stronger black businesses. These will increasingly offer challenging, rewarding opportunities. And they will be instruments of broad social and political change, as well as community development, in ways most Fortune 1000 firms can't be.

3. Your job is simply to manage, not to be an agent of social change. Why are you in management? This is not some existential trick question. Instead, it gets to your motivation for being a manager rather than a teacher, preacher, lawyer, doctor, engineer, scientist or entrepreneur. As a black manager, you have various economic and intellectual motivations. But, given the history of civil rights, one of those should be your desire to see broad social change, and management offers you a base, a platform, and an environment in which to work, directly and indirectly, for progressive change.