Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to emphasize how Black women must illustrate skills in corporate America, medium to small businesses, non-profits, academia, politics, healthcare, etc. to obtain leadership status. They have invested much time in their education and their work life. They have crafted their leadership skills, taken calculated risks, and proved to have the abilities to “lead by example” in different disciplines. However, formal and informal leadership is not all accommodating and accepting; it comes with headaches, frustrations, and politically motivated intentions, and Black women must maneuver through the ups and downs. Everyone does not want them “at the table.” They have broken the “glass ceiling” in some professions, but there are mavericks, who stir up trouble to get the Black woman to retreat. This chapter will highlight three techniques and graphically show responses how Black women can navigate to be successful in their chosen professions.
TopIntroduction
A well-known Black female leader once said, “I didn’t learn to be quiet when I had an opinion. The reason they knew who I was is because I told them” (Williams, 2019). This quote was stated by Ursula Burns, former Xerox Chairman and CEO from 2009 to 2017. In 2018, she was appointed the Executive Chairman of VEON, where she served until 2020. Why highlight someone like Ursula Burns? She is a trailblazer who has been portrayed as “a transformational leader in business, as well as an articulate, proactive, and a radical thinker” (The Newsroom, 2013). Many describe her leadership style as transformational because she has been known to listen, respond cautiously, pay attention to details, and seek buy-in from her direct team. Ursula Burns served on the board of directors for various American companies, such as Exxon Mobil, Nestlé, Uber, American Express, Waystar, Diageo, and Datto, Inc.
Her leadership story continues through her various networking and service projects. Ursula Burns has said that growing up, she had to “face-to-face with racism or sexism” (Ignatius, 2021), so she learned to be numb to it, which caused her to be more effective and professional in the workplace.
Another torchbearer is Thasunda Brown Duckett of TIAA. On September 7, 2021, she was the keynote speaker during a webinar. She spoke about her leadership journey and how her humble beginnings brought her to this place and time in Corporate America. She learned how to persevere as Chief Executive Officer of Chase Consumer Banking. Using her finance and marketing education, she was previously the Director of Emerging Markets at Fannie Mae, “where she led the implementation of national strategies designed to increase homeownership among Black and Hispanic Americans” (WBC, 2021). During the webinar she also spoke of her strong support of the third annual TIAA HBCU Early Career Insights Program (TIAA, 2021) and her commitment to “pay it forward”. She is passionate about helping others understand the wealth gap and how to understand, empower, and engage with education and career success. Through her formal and informal leadership styles, she has her trials and tribulation. She often speaks of optimism and positivity, but mavericks “sneak into the room”, and confusion happens. However, Thasunda Brown Duckett has remained steadfast with energy, commitment, and gratitude to serve in this capacity.
More Black leaders could be spotlighted, but for the purpose of this writing, one more Fortune 500 leader has been recognized and that is Rosalind Brewer of Walgreens Boots Alliance. With her appointment to this position in March 2021, it made her the third Black woman serving as a CEO for a Fortune 500 company. She has served in other notable leadership positions, such as Starbucks, Sam’s Club, Walmart, and Kimberly-Clark. Rosalind Brewer spoke at Spelman College, her alma mater’s May commencement ceremony, May 2021. She mentioned that she had been discounted after being given assignments that others did not want. She felt that she had ranked as a failure before she had a chance to accomplish the tasks, but through it all, she believed in perseverance. She said, “No matter how high we fly, we still hit the glass dome constructed by our biased culture” (Guynn, 2019). USA Today referred to her as “one of corporate America's most prominent women and black female executives. Brewer has been noted a “Highly Powerful Woman” by both Forbes and Fortune magazines (Durbin, 2021).
How did these Black women reach this plateau? What leadership skills do they possess? Were they born with these leadership skills, or did they learn these skills by observing, studying, and practicing? Also, it is obvious that there has been a willingness and desire of others in authority to recognize, advocate, and provide opportunities for these Black women to work through their SWOT analysis (strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats). However, the mavericks’ goals are to cause doubt, confusion, and unnecessary conversation. See Appendix 1; it shows a sample of an individual assessment that anyone in leadership can complete in determining the SWOT analysis.
Mavericks are often viewed in the negative context; however, the Collins Dictionary defines the word maverick as “a person of independent or unorthodox views” (Collins Dictionary, 2021). Regardless of the negative or positive context, the maverick must be addressed for the good of the organization.
Key Terms in this Chapter
XEROX: An American Fortune 500 corporation. Its business is selling print and digital document products and services. It is an international company and is headquartered in Connecticut. It is incorporated in New York. Ursula Burns was its first Black woman CEO from 2009 through 2016.
Theory Y: A theory measuring people’s work motivation. It complements Theory X. Douglas McGregor created these theories in the 1960s while he was working at the MIT Sloan School of Management. This theory assumes that people get energize in working through challenges at work. They are self-motivated and self-directed. This sense of enthusiasm makes them empowered in their problem-solving and decision-making.
SWOT Analysis: A technique used by individuals or organizations to assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats relating to performance. This analysis can usually make individuals and organizations aware of area to focus to overall personal and professional growth.
Strategic Plan: A detailed document that explains step-by-step processes to identity the vision and mission with their goals and objectives. Once the strategic plan is endorsed, then each level of the organization can determine how it impacts progress and how to track key performance indicators.
Theory X: A theory measuring people’s work motivation. It complements Theory Y. Douglas McGregor created these theories in the 1960s while he was working at the MIT Sloan School of Management. This theory assumes that people dislikes work, that they avoid it, and that they lack ambition and initiative.
Glass Ceiling: An informal or a conversational term used to describe the obstacles that females, especially Women of Color, confront in the workplace in attempting to seek upper management and leadership positions. In 1991, the U.S. Department of Labor established the Glass Ceiling Act that addresses the elimination of invisible barriers for the advancement of women and minorities in all organizations.
Walgreens: Second largest pharmacy store in the United States ranking behind CVS. Its products and services include filling prescriptions, health awareness, wellness products, and photo services. Its holding company is Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. which is headquartered in Illinois. Rosalind Brewer, a Black woman, is its current CEO who manages a revenue of over 139B dollars.
Devil Advocacy: When a person verbally speaks on the opposing position to cause decision for the purpose of examining all possible viewpoints. This is not popular position, it is helps to ensure trust, clarity, and transparency.
Five Factor Model: An assessment of personal traits that are outlined in five dimensions - Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience. Depending on the personal and work life situation the ranking can fluctuate within each dimension.
TIAA: Founded in 1918. Acronym stands for “Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund”. Formerly named “TIAA-CREF”. It is a Fortune 100 financial services organization. In 2020 the company employed over 16,000 employees and had a total equity of over 38B dollars. Thasunda Brown Duckett is its current president and CEO.