Leading in Black and White: Working Across the Racial Divide in Corporate America / Edition 1

by Ancella Livers, Keith Caver

Overview

Many blacks in the workplace face a set of dynamics unique to being African American in a traditionally white, male-dominated world. In this landmark book, authors Ancella Livers and Keith Caver— co-facilitators of the Center for Creative Leadership's African-American Leadership Program for the past five years— explain how the leadership experience for blacks is radically different from the experiences of their white colleagues. These differences, of which most white managers are unaware, can lead to miscues and distortions in communication and ultimately get in the way of effective performance and optimal productivity for organizations. In Leading in Black and White, the authors not only clearly explain how things go wrong, they also provide sensible solutions for both the white manager and the black manager on how to make them right.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780787957247
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	10/31/2002
Series:	J-B CCL (Center for Creative Leadership) , #24
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.28(w) x 9.13(h) x 0.96(d)

About the Author

Ancella B. Livers is a manager of Individual Leadership Development for
the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). In this role, she manages and trains in several programs and designs and delivers custom programs for clients in public, private, and non-profit sectors. Livers, a former business journalist, is a certified executive coach and feedback specialist who has published and presented widely on the role of race in the workplace.

Keith A. Caver is the director of Client and Assessment Services for CCL, where he is responsible for client-management and assessment processing activities. Caver is a core trainer for several CCL programs, delivers numerous client-specific programs, and is a presenter on leadership issues ranging from diversity to change management. He is a former U.S. Air Force officer and a certified executive coach and feedback specialist.

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCLR) is an international, nonprofit educational institution whose mission is to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide. Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, CCL conducts research, produces publications and assessment tools, and offers a variety of educational programs. For the second consecutive time, CCL was ranked number one for Leadership in the Executive Education Special Report in BusinessWeek magazine and was ranked seventh overall among the top international providers of non-degree executive education programs in the 2002 Financial Times survey. For more information, visit CCL's Web site at www.ccl.org.

Table of Contents

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

The Authors.

Introduction.

Part One: A World of Difference for Black Managers.

1. The Assumption of Similarity.

2. Who Are We?

3. Looking Out for Each Other.

4. Navigating the Shoals of Race and Gender.

5. Working the Networks.

6. Growing and Grooming Leaders.

7. Understanding the Political Landscape.

Part Two: Coming Together.

8. Strategies for Black Managers.

9. What Colleagues Need to Know.

10. What Organizations Need to Know.

Appendix: Assessing Your Political Savvy.

References and Suggested Readings.

Index.

About the Center for Creative Leadership.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The groundbreaking research and the strategies in this book will lead the serious manager to the promised land of sensible, workable techniques of 'getting to know you.' This bible of workplace race relations for leaders makes Livers and Caver the prophets of doable diversity."
— Maynard H. Jackson, chairman, Jackson Securities Inc., and Atlanta mayor emeritus

"This book is must-reading for black professionals and managers who are looking for a road map to breaking through in corporate America. Livers and Caver confront the real challenges that African Americans face in corporate America in a manner that educates and inspires them to see the real possibilities for achieving their goals."
— David A. Thomas, Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, and author of Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America

"Useful insights for both individuals and companies wishing to develop diverse leadership. The principles extend well beyond racial diversity with broad applicability to global issues of diversity."
— Thomas C. Knudson, senior vice president, human resources, information management and corporate communications, Conoco, Inc.

"Leading in Black and White provides a unique inside view to the realities experienced by minority leaders in today's workplace. Executives, HR professionals, and business leaders will benefit from the clear focus on issues and the proposed actions."
— Judy Burke, vice president, human resources and organizational development, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines

"Valuable and sound practical advice for individuals and organizational leaders on how to close the racial divide in Corporate America."
— Stella M. Nkomo, Bateman Distinguished Professor of Business Leadership, University of South Africa, and co-author of Our Separate Ways: Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity

Editorial Reviews

A readable and valuable discussion of important issues.” (Long Range Planning, no. 38, 2005)

From the Publisher

The authors, long-standing cofacilitators at the Center for Creative Leadership's African American Leadership Program, draw upon their own expertise and past studies conducted by the CCL to produce this insightful study of the misunderstandings and miscommunications that hinder effective interactions in the diversified workplace. The work is grounded in 39 in-depth interviews conducted by the CCL from 1996 to 1997, a survey of 270 African American professionals conducted in 1999-2000, and the authors' own in-depth interviews of another 20 black professionals between 2000 and 2001. The authors focus on six commonalities shared by the interviewees: a distinctive perception of identity, feelings of responsibility for other blacks, heightened attention to race and gender, challenges in networking, a need for mentoring, and approaches to office politics. By conducting these interviews, the authors hope to expand our understanding of racial differences in the workplace and to suggest what can be done about them. Recommended for public libraries with a business clientele as well as for academic libraries with programs in business management.-Rona Ostrow, Lehman Coll. Lib., CUNY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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