ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512220003
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Workplace
SOURCE: L.M. SIXE HOUSTON CHRONICLE
They've got to deal with decades of discrimination while trying to successfully introduce a new product or increase productivity on the plant floor.
Sometimes, white employees try to go around their black supervisors.
Sometimes, they're suspicious that a black manager got his job because of a ``special program'' like affirmative action and don't give him much respect. Sometimes, tensions run so high that white employees quit when they hear they'll be working for a black manager.
``You have to go in and prove yourself nearly every day,'' said Anna Chandler, assistant professor of minority studies at Wichita State University in Kansas. ``There's a different set of rules on judging black managers than white managers.''
Black managers have to be bicultural, she said. They have to make it in the white world but not lose touch with their roots. The history of racism between blacks and whites makes it tougher on black managers than Asian or Hispanic managers, she said. Blacks are underrepresented in many professions, such as engineering and other scientific fields. They're grossly underrepresented in upper management and on the corporate officer level.
Chandler said she still sometimes has to explain that she didn't get her Ph.D. through a special program for minorities.
``You have to tell people you were validated by the white power structure,'' she said. ``You've done everything right - you use the right toothpaste, you use the right deodorant, you go to the right schools, you get the right degrees - but yes, you're black, and you don't deserve to be here,'' she said. To ease the way, black managers should learn some strategies on dealing with problems that white managers typically don't face. When Floyd Dickens Jr., co-author of ``The Black Manager: Making it in the Corporate World,'' went to work as an engineer, he was scheduled to be trained by someone who told him blacks didn't make very good engineers.
Dickens said he decided to use a little psychology. He told the other engineer that he wasn't really concerned with what he thought. He only wanted training in the company's new product.
Dickens then offered to accompany the engineer to their boss's office so he could tell the boss that he wouldn't make a good engineer. The training engineer quickly backpedaled and said he'd prefer to forget the whole conversation. Dickens said he learned strategy like that from friends, mentors and professional consultants hired by white corporations to teach black managers how to be effective.
Unfortunately, companies have cut back on that kind of training, Dickens said. But that kind of help is very important, he said. Corporate America is particularly taxing on blacks, because they have to produce in spite of racism. Dickens said a black manager often finds himself the only black person at a meeting, and other folks sometimes disregard what he says. To change that, Dickens teaches black managers how to get heard.
For example, he suggests sitting as close as you can to the most powerful person in the room. If people talk over you, look at the meeting leader and ask if the group could back up a minute. Or touch the powerful person on the arm; that sends a signal that you want to get your message across, he said. Sometimes, it's a good idea to appeal to the self-interests of others, Dickens said. For example, if you need data from someone who is racist, say something like: ``My boss asked me to talk about project X, and if I'm not satisfied, I should come back to him.''
It's an extreme that whites don't have to go to, he said. Blacks managers can't afford to sit around and wait for a mentor, either, Dickens said. Suggest having lunch with someone who said something interesting at a meeting. Extend the invitation twice before giving up, Dickens said. Sometimes being bold is the only way to get the job done. James Wimbush, a professor of management at Indiana University's School of Business in Bloomington, said that, in the end, competence will get you promoted. Look beyond the racial issue and focus on adding value to your corporation, he said. That can make the difference between moving up and staying in one place.
When Wimbush, a black, joined a company in West Virginia as a manager about 10 years ago, some white employees quit when they heard of his appointment, he said. Wimbush wondered if he should respond to that in some creative way. In the end, he decided to simply work hard to earn the respect of the employees.
The most distressing thing was, he had as big a problem with blacks accepting him as whites, he said.
``I joined a church and started to work with them there,'' he said. ``I got to know them, and they got to know me.''
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