December 1993 |
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Models for Success Advice from the vanguard of black executives. In the first 43 years of the Business School — from the time of its founding until the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968 — seven African Americans received MBA degrees. In the shock that followed the death of Dr. King, the School took steps to diversify the student body — racially, culturally, and by gender. During the following decade, 129 blacks entered the MBA Program. Among them are some of the School's most distinguished graduates. Recently, five of them reflected on their careers and the lessons they have learned. The advice they offer is relevant not only to young blacks, but also to other young people entering business — as well as to anyone trying to build and manage a diverse workforce. Leonade Jones, JD/MBA '73 When Leonade Jones, JD/MBA '73, arrived at Stanford in the fall of 1969, she didn't exactly feel at home. Straight out of all-female Simmons College, she found coed dorms a very dramatic change. That wasn't the only difference. After spending the first year of the four-year joint program in law school, she moved to the Business School, where there were 12 blacks and 5 women in the first-year class, but only one black woman — herself. Now treasurer of the Washington Post Company and a member of the bar in California and the District of Columbia, Jones explains why she chose the dual-degree program. "I arrived at a time when it was very difficult for a woman to come out of undergraduate school and get any kind of job other than a secretarial position. I understood that it was good to have options." Jones had been challenged by Margaret Hennig, a professor at Simmons who later turned her doctoral dissertation into the book The Managerial Woman. "Margaret Hennig was pivotal in my career," says Jones, "and in a lot of other women's careers. She had gone to Harvard Business School in the early 1960s, when it was even more difficult for women. She said it was important that there be more women in business. She was not African American, but she was inspirational to many African American women." Ronald Goldsberry, MBA '73 Ronald Goldsberry, MBA '73, learned about the Business School from friends. Goldsberry was down the road at NASA-Ames Research Center, completing his military obligation. He had already earned a PhD in chemistry and obtained several patents; he thought the Business School might teach him how to commercialize his technology. One of 14 blacks in his class, Goldsberry was too busy to take part in student social life — he was teaching at San Jose State, working part time for Hewlett-Packard, and raising a young family while he attended classes. Nevertheless, Goldsberry keeps close ties to the School. He, like his classmates Leonade Jones and A. Barry Rand, is a member of the Business School Advisory Council. Goldsberry, who is now general sales and marketing manager of Ford Motor Company's parts and services division, established a fellowship at the School. He actively mentors one Stanford MBA student. His son Ryan, a toddler when his dad was in school, is a member of the MBA Class of 1994. "I spend a significant portion of my time mentoring other blacks," says Goldsberry. "I have a joint interest in both technical and business fields, and I encourage kids in both areas. I go around to different schools and talk to the kids, participate in Big Brother programs. I also head an organization that helps minority kids who want to go into technical fields get tutorial help and assists them financially to get into college summer programs to build up their math and science skills before they go to college. "I know how important mentors are. I've had mentors at almost every assignment I've had. Not African Americans. Nearly everywhere I went, I was the highest-ranking black. I've said many times that it's discouraging not to know whether you've hit the glass ceiling, just because no other black has been there before." A. Barry Rand, Sloan '72, MBA '73 "Working in the corporate world, you are used to being a minority in the true sense," says A. Barry Rand, Sloan '72, MBA '73. "In an environment where there are very few of you, you learn to participate, to become involved." A young sales representative from Xerox, Rand was recruited into the MBA Program by then Sloan director Bob Davis. Back at Xerox, where Rand now holds one of the firm's highest offices — executive vice president, operations — he had been part of a grass roots network of young black sales reps and trainees. "Many of the people who turned out to be black leaders at Xerox were also civil rights activists. When they came into the corporate world, they came with a couple of expectations. One was to excel personally. The second was to play a role in changing society for the better — changing it so that society would offer equal opportunity. And they applied that concept to the corporate environment. So what was popularized in the newsreels as integrating the lunch counters was brought to corporate America and called integrating the boardroom." Ira Hall, MBA '76 Ira Hall was familiar with boardrooms — or at least with their occupants — before he entered the MBA Class of 1976. A product of segregated schools in Oklahoma, Hall became president of his senior class at Stanford in 1966. The young engineer then joined Hewlett-Packard, where he was mentored by Hewlett and Packard themselves as well as by the firm's former CEO, John Young, MBA '58. Before he got to business school, Hall was elected a trustee of Stanford; he also served on the board of the National Urban Coalition and headed the Stanford Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition. "I had the benefit of knowing a great many people at the CEO level, and I had the certainty of knowing where I would be in the corporation — at the entry level for people with high potential. But I had much less familiarity with what goes on in the middle. I figured that business school was the most effective and efficient way to quickly learn something about the disciplines of marketing and accounting and finance and the like." Instead of going back into engineering, Hall went to Wall Street, even though he knew there was "an unspoken question of whether clients would accept you. I found that they would, based on the quality of my advice. I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. A great wave of technology-based initial public offerings came forth in the early eighties." Hall stayed on the Street until 1985, then was wooed away by IBM, where he is now U.S. treasurer. I'd have to say Wall Street is a challenging environment for African Americans. Things have gotten somewhat better, but they still are not equal opportunity in any sense." Bernard Beal, MBA '79 Bernard Beal, MBA '79, agrees. "There's a lot of racism on Wall Street," says Beal, "but if you're generating a lot of money, people tend not to notice whether you have one eye in the center of your head." Hired by E. F. Hutton straight out of business school, Beal did well in the next nine years, well enough to found M. R. Beal & Company in 1988. Called in 1991 "one of the fastest-growing minority-owned investment banks on Wall Street" by the New York Times , M. R. Beal has grown since then from 35 employees to 55, from dealing in municipal bonds alone to corporate finance as well. "I thought there would be a glass ceiling. I'm not saying there isn't, but if there is, I haven't hit it yet," says Beal. "Instead, there's a wall that the rest of the Street has erected to keep other people out. I've found that the corporations, the clients I pursue, are exceptionally receptive to my firm as long as what they hear is substantive. They don't want to hear that they have so many minorities who work for them or who buy their products and therefore they should deal with us. They do want to know the ways we've identified to cut their costs, or refinance a certain portion of their business, or restructure an existing product line. Which is good. But I discovered, to my surprise, that the rest of Wall Street is not all that receptive to dealing with us. And I don't think it's purely racial; I think it's money more than anything else. They don't want to let the little firm in." "The glass ceiling does exist," says Jones. "It is an issue not only for African Americans but for women. The question, though, is how well you would do without a degree. You might not earn as much as your white male counterpart, but you still will do so much better than you would have without a graduate degree. These days, it's become much more difficult to get ahead. The hurdle has been raised. When I was coming out of school, an MBA degree opened the doors. Now I think it's absolutely necessary to have one to even get to the door. It's not a panacea. You still have to produce once you're inside, but it gives you an advantage that is very difficult to duplicate. I think a Stanford MBA is invaluable." "I don't know that the MBA degree is the right thing for everybody," says Goldsberry. "In my company, a person can succeed without leaving work for a year or two to get an MBA. But if they've made the decision to get the MBA — and this is particularly true for African Americans — they will find many opportunities out there and will probably be surprised at how quickly they move up the career ladder." "Whether it is an MBA or some other advanced degree, what is important is to develop the ability to learn how to learn, to learn how to problem solve," says Rand. "As things become more complicated, it will put more demands on how well you lead and think through problems (which will influence the way you are perceived as a leader and problem solver). There is still a glass ceiling. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a try — there's progress being made. To change the system, reach out and help other blacks." The black network at Xerox is a case in point. "It started as a self-help group," says Rand. "There were pockets of the corporation where blacks came in and said, 'We don't know much about the environment we're in. Let's help each other.' Five or six black sales reps would get together in a particular area. Although we weren't part of the good-old-boy network, we could at least share bits of information. We'd ask the corporation if we could take the training material and the videos home. We would tape each other's presentations and critique our selling skills. We would give each other feedback in terms of interpersonal skills. Communication, training, feedback — these were the keys. "As time went on, we began working with management on issues related to racial bias. The stated management goal was equal opportunity, but there were many managers who resisted that, and there were processes that did not facilitate it. Management would say, 'We can't recruit blacks because we don't know where they are. We can't find any.' So we would help identify. We would go to the black colleges. We would go to friends and give management an inventory of qualified blacks. "The good old boys knew where the jobs were. We initiated job postings. The good old boys didn't know blacks who qualified for higher management. We suggested that a management resource-planning process be put in place that identified women and minorities who should get exposure to senior management and receive special development. As recruitment grew, we established caucus groups around the country to work with management for equal opportunity. "Those caucuses became networked. We don't yet have a color-blind society at Xerox, but the management of Xerox has reached out and embraced all these groups. Management finds this employee model beneficial. And it has helped other people who were left out — women and other minorities." The network at Xerox established principles that Rand recommends for every young black entering the workforce: "The first was the principle of excellence. Minorities don't have the luxury of being mediocre. The second was preparation. You have to continually prepare yourself for opportunities. Preparation is even more important today. The acceleration of change for companies and of technology that affects jobs, the fact that specialists are giving way to general management kinds of people, will tell you that you continually need to prepare yourself and look beyond whatever you're doing today to learn the skills that are necessary for tomorrow. And third was community. You have to reach out and help other people. The support groups helped each other, but they also reached outside the corporation to the black community at large. Helping in the community is an obligation." Jones agrees in practice as well as principle. But she warns: "Priorities are absolutely critical for women. Certainly there are some women who can do it all, but I think there is a lot of pressure to try and do everything. Women have to learn how to say 'No,' because they have responsibilities for children, for parents. That's not the way it should be, but that's the reality. And the other thing that's difficult for African Americans, both women and men, is that when you are perceived as a role model, you're often asked to be the Lone Ranger and do a lot of things your white male counterpart won't be asked to do. I think it's important to give back to our communities and our families, but I think you have to be careful of all the demands. And understand that those demands are misunderstood in some corporate environments," she adds. "If I had only two pieces of advice to give," says Beal, "I would say: Learn the basics of your business and learn your people skills. I've seen a number of African Americans come out of an MBA program — very bright, very aggressive young kids — and because of corporate America's need — perceived or real — for African Americans, these people have moved a little faster than they should have, before they had the basics under their belts. What happens is these young people are tied to the firm they start with. They can't move anywhere else because they don't have the fundamentals. "And the second thing: When I was in business school they said, 'You're going to wish you had focused on your people skills.' And I said, 'B.S.!'" Beal laughs, "but they were right. Learn the internal, political nature of your organization. Every organization has a culture, and you're not going to be able to change it. You're going to have to live with it, or adapt to it, or get out of it. Setting up mentors, managing your superiors, managing your colleagues, spending time on what in investment banking looks like social life, is all-important. "You can always ask for direct feedback, but if you're really sharp, you can perceive the feedback you're getting from others. You have to constantly monitor where you are. When I was at Stanford, I learned to sail. One of the things they taught is that you can get from point A to point B in a straight line. But it's rare. The wind has to be just with you; the water's got to be just there. You've got to know how the cultural winds in your organization are blowing, and you've got to tack against those winds. I'd rather control the winds than have the winds control me." Says Hall: "I would say there's an absolute demand for talent, regardless of racial or ethnic background. And, while the hurdles may be a little steeper and more frequent for African Americans, they can definitely be cleared. The one thing I would recommend for African Americans is to excel academically. To the greatest degree possible. With a passion. And it's not just for the grades, but for the experience of success. "I think things have gotten better for African Americans since I graduated. As the management of a company sees and gets to know successful African American executives, it helps remove barriers for others. When I first went to Wall Street, I went with a keen understanding that it was an uphill battle for African Americans on the Street to make partner. Recently, several investment banks have expressed strong interest in my joining them. The difference is that now they want me to come in as a managing director." A Network for Black Alumni The Stanford Business School Black Alumni Association was founded in 1983 and now has 385 members. The organization provides a network for black alumni and informal mentoring for black MBA students. It actively recruits minority students around the country, and it has joined the Stanford Black Business Students Association in sponsoring an annual conference and career fair. In 1991, the Black Alumni Association established an endowment fund to help recruit and retain black faculty, students, and administrators and to finance research on minority issues.
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