Black on Black management: African American managers can either help or hinder one another. Here's how to help

Black Enterprise, Jan, 1998 by Iris Randall

African American managers can either help or hinder one another. Here's how to help.

JOYCE, AN AFRICAN AMERICAN, JOINED A Fortune 500 consumer products firm as a senior product manger. Her hiring caused some consternation among the other black managers, who saw Joyce as taking a job one of them could have had. Although not much was said, their resentment showed in small ways. They were overly polite when in Joyce's company and were reluctant to share information with her. And, while no one said anything derogatory about Joyce, no one said anything positive either. It was as if the black managers had bought into the general opinion that Joyce was just another affirmative action hire.

When Joyce was preparing her first sales presentation on product positioning, not one of her black colleagues told her about an early trend report that would have helped her better target her market. Consequently, her presentation was met with only mild approval form her colleagues and superiors. "At first, I thought I was not made aware of this information because I was new," recalls Joyce. "But I was also left out of informal gatherings and was rarely asked my opinion on projects. It took me having to prove myself as a manager before I was actually accepted into the group.

Why did this occur? When black employees give less support to their fellow black mangers than they do to their white counterparts, it may indicate that they have bought into an "inferiority" complex, which they project onto their black colleagues. In The Black Manager: Making It in the Corporate World by Floyd and Jacqueline Dickens (Amacom, $22.95), "black self-hate"--a complicated issue that is deeply rooted in black history--is discussed in detail. This malady tends to rear its ugly head in the workplace in various ways.

Managers with this mind-set subvert each other by micro-managing--assigning projects to black colleagues only to it won't be done properly. There are some overly conservative managers whose fear of failure is so great that they won't take risks. They end up holding everyone back by never introducing a new idea or allowing their staff to be innovative.

Then there are the managers who are overly sensitive to any congregation of African Americans in the workplace. "Coupling," as it's informally called when three or more black employees gather in the workplace, can include anything from having lunch together to socializing in the elevator. This manager will never engage in such a forum for fear that his or her white counterparts will think that the group is "conspiring."

THE NEED TO LEVERAGE DIVERSITY

If black managers are to take their rightful place in upper management, they must leverage their diversity. Just because both a manager and subordinate are black doesn't mean that there will be automatic cohesiveness. African Americans are as diverse in their attitudes and behaviors as any other group. Black managers must be confident enough to let go of the reins without taking personal responsibility for dotting every "i" and crossing every "t." And as relative newcomers striding up the corporate ladder, they must also develop trust in their black colleagues. This means getting to know one another better.

Consider the case of five African American management trainees who worked for a Fortune 500 company in the mid-1970s. While they had been welcomed into the organization under the new affirmative action laws, there was limited room for rapid upward mobility. Still, the group was determined to make a difference. That meant building trust and sharing information. They decided that their first step to working together would be to break a corporate taboo and discuss their salaries.

It's an unwritten rule in much of corporate America that salaries should never be shared. In some organizations, salary disclosure could be grounds for termination. These employees were willing to take the risk, and with their newfound knowledge were better able to negotiate their departmental budgets and salaries when promotions came around. They also helped many other new African American employees as they applied their insights and mentoring capabilities.

While sharing information within a company is important, there are other ways African Americans can help each other. For example, what is your responsibility when someone on your staff has been downsized and is looking fat a job? Are you reluctant to recommend a subordinate (even if his or her work has been exceptional) because you fear it won't work out and that failure may reflect on your sound judgment?

"Become an advocate for that person. When you're referring someone whose work you know is exceptional, go to the mat. Pick up the phone and make the call," suggests Liz Lowe, a former vice president at the New York Department of Transportation. "Also be prepared to coach and counsel if necessary. Share what has worked for you in the past and, last but not least, stay in touch," adds Lowe, who has helped outsized co-workers make valuable networking connections. By helping the other person to succeed, you decrease their chance of failure.