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The Five Steps to Leadership from the National Black MBA Assn. Leader

March 2006

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Barbara ThomasThe National Black MBA Association was founded by a handful of University of Chicago students in the late 1960s, when students of color represented a small minority in business school classrooms and needed all the mentoring and networking help they could get.

But Barbara L. Thomas, who serves as president and chief executive officer of the group today, says its mandate is more important than ever now that more people of ethnically and socially diverse backgrounds are getting their MBAs and influencing the course of business and society.

Thomas, who addressed the Stanford Graduate School of Business 23rd annual conference of the Black Business Students Association in March, listed five steps all leaders should take:

  1. Decide to change the course of your life, your business, or your organization.
  2. Re-imagine the possibilities of your future. "Don't allow your degree to limit your imagination or blind you to any obstacles or opportunities."
  3. Determine to lead with power, passion, and purpose.
  4. Determine to win. "Don't ever organize to come in second," said Thomas. And her final tip?
  5. "Ask yourself every day, 'Am I relevant to the people, the markets, and the communities that I serve?' And if ever you find yourself answering no to that question, I encourage you to return to Step 1," she said.

Thomas said students must be mindful of the ways that globalization and information technology have empowered individuals to effect change.

"Are our communities waiting for you to create the next Google, create the next PC, structure the next deal, or realign another industry? Of course they are," said Thomas. "You have the power to change the world."

However, she urged MBAs not to limit their leadership to the business world. It is the responsibility of every black leader "to construct and maintain a solid pipeline of access to information, resources, and networking to facilitate and accelerate a young black person's journey from the classroom to the boardroom."

Thomas said the National Black MBA Association, headquartered in Chicago, helps foster that kind of responsible leadership by sponsoring mentoring programs in high schools, establishing undergraduate programs to support college students considering careers in business and, for professionals, maintaining "a network of support and contacts that reach around the world."

—Andrea Orr