The Truth in an Asinine CEO Directive
The following is the link to the editorial by a guilty, white, liberal who thinks he has the answer to increasing African-American representation on the payrolls of American corporations:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/
I quoted the relevant paragraph in my letter to the Boston Globe:
Editor,
Former CEO of John Hancock Financial Services, Mr. David D’Alessandro, wrote the following about filling the upper-ranks of corporate America with African-Americans, “Whenever a job opening occurs and the company is short on African-American employees, the manager is given the following directive: ‘You will find and hire a qualified black person. I don't care how long it takes. They are out there and you will find one. And by the way, do not hire one who is destined to fail just to fill the slot. I am holding you personally responsible for that individual's success. Your job is on the line if that person doesn't make it.’ Amazing how quickly managers miraculously accomplish this task. I have tried it many times. Never fails. (The great lie in African-American hiring, October 8, A11)”. Wow!
What guilty, liberal, white CEOs like Mr. D’Alessandro do not understand is that, duh!, the African-American new hire of course “succeeded” under the CEO's asinine “directive”. The hiring Manager who ever had the courage to tell “truth to power” and said a hiring mistake was made, if made, should have been rewarded not held “personally responsible”. Hiring Managers make poor hiring decisions all the time, why should they be held to an infallible standard when hiring an African-American?
Further, Mr. D’Alessandro has written the prescription for catastrophic failure in the workplace for far too many cowards exist at levels of management between hiring Managers and CEOs; I suggest “senior management” does not have the collective courage to tell “truth to power”. An under-performing African-American will surely get “promoted” (think the grade-school term of “passed through") because the CEO said the African-American cannot fail. How can this not have a downward spiraling effect on Company morale?
And, what of the African-American’s workplace peers? Given the intense pressure of the CEO’s directive, how can the hiring Manager possibly “develop” any non-African-American peers? Who will get the choicest projects and assignments? I wonder. White hiring Managers have families, mortgages and college tuition bills, too.
Finally, everyone, black and white, wants to get promoted because they deserved it. What African-American should have to announce a promotion at the family dinner table under the cloud she or he benefited from a racial preference? Well, Mr. D’Alessandro has just reinforced that that cloud exists and he’s robbed African-Americans of the complete joy that should come with achieving a well-earned promotion.
Every African-American that has ever “succeeded” under Mr. D’Alessandro or CEOs that “lead” like he led, now has to ask whether they actually succeeded. Mr. D’Alessandro claims he "never" failed after all. Think about that. (Enf of letter.)
On December 10, 2006, I wrote, "We will never be a color-blind society until we are a color-blind society."
On or about June 28, 2007, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts, paid me the ultimate compliment by immortalizing my words when he wrote into a U.S. Supreme Court decision, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."
On October 8, 2007 I repeat, yet again, my call to denounce the racism of the skin-color obsessed.
The following is the link to the editorial by a guilty, white, liberal who thinks he has the answer to increasing African-American representation on the payrolls of American corporations:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/
I quoted the relevant paragraph in my letter to the Boston Globe:
Editor,
Former CEO of John Hancock Financial Services, Mr. David D’Alessandro, wrote the following about filling the upper-ranks of corporate America with African-Americans, “Whenever a job opening occurs and the company is short on African-American employees, the manager is given the following directive: ‘You will find and hire a qualified black person. I don't care how long it takes. They are out there and you will find one. And by the way, do not hire one who is destined to fail just to fill the slot. I am holding you personally responsible for that individual's success. Your job is on the line if that person doesn't make it.’ Amazing how quickly managers miraculously accomplish this task. I have tried it many times. Never fails. (The great lie in African-American hiring, October 8, A11)”. Wow!
What guilty, liberal, white CEOs like Mr. D’Alessandro do not understand is that, duh!, the African-American new hire of course “succeeded” under the CEO's asinine “directive”. The hiring Manager who ever had the courage to tell “truth to power” and said a hiring mistake was made, if made, should have been rewarded not held “personally responsible”. Hiring Managers make poor hiring decisions all the time, why should they be held to an infallible standard when hiring an African-American?
Further, Mr. D’Alessandro has written the prescription for catastrophic failure in the workplace for far too many cowards exist at levels of management between hiring Managers and CEOs; I suggest “senior management” does not have the collective courage to tell “truth to power”. An under-performing African-American will surely get “promoted” (think the grade-school term of “passed through") because the CEO said the African-American cannot fail. How can this not have a downward spiraling effect on Company morale?
And, what of the African-American’s workplace peers? Given the intense pressure of the CEO’s directive, how can the hiring Manager possibly “develop” any non-African-American peers? Who will get the choicest projects and assignments? I wonder. White hiring Managers have families, mortgages and college tuition bills, too.
Finally, everyone, black and white, wants to get promoted because they deserved it. What African-American should have to announce a promotion at the family dinner table under the cloud she or he benefited from a racial preference? Well, Mr. D’Alessandro has just reinforced that that cloud exists and he’s robbed African-Americans of the complete joy that should come with achieving a well-earned promotion.
Every African-American that has ever “succeeded” under Mr. D’Alessandro or CEOs that “lead” like he led, now has to ask whether they actually succeeded. Mr. D’Alessandro claims he "never" failed after all. Think about that. (Enf of letter.)
On December 10, 2006, I wrote, "We will never be a color-blind society until we are a color-blind society."
On or about June 28, 2007, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts, paid me the ultimate compliment by immortalizing my words when he wrote into a U.S. Supreme Court decision, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."
On October 8, 2007 I repeat, yet again, my call to denounce the racism of the skin-color obsessed.
posted by Zack at 3:22 PM
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