In Black America; Power with Dr. Ronald B. Brown, Part 1

you From the Longhorn Radio Network, the University of Texas at Austin, this is in Black America. For those of you who think about power as in the General Manager's Office of Your Station or in the Publishers Office of your newspaper, we're really talking about power at all levels

of our organizations and within our society. I would hope that students, those of you here who are just trying to finish out the year and head for some good summertime, that before we come out of here that you start engaging the notion of power. The reason is because you are becoming a part of, and those of you who are in the profession, know that you are a part of one of the most powerful institutions in this country. Your institution shape the reality of what this society is all about. Your institution is just writing about what happens and what should happen. It is shaping the reality for this country. Dr. Ron B. Brown, Ph.D., founder and president of Banks Brown Incorporated, a consulting firm specializing in the effective management of culture diversity in the workplace and providing counsel to human resource planning strategies.

Power, according to Wester, is the control or influence over others. Everyone wants power, power at work, power at home, and power at play. This society functions from a power base, but do we really understand power? Dr. Ron B. Brown put that question to the participant at the National Association of Black Journalists Region 7 conference held last March in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Brown wants journalists and student journalists attending the conference to realize that they will or are working in one of the most powerful institutions in this country. I'm John L. Hansen, Jr. and welcome to another edition of In Black America. This week, Understanding Power with Dr. Ron B. Brown in Black America. Each of you should somewhere over time define for yourself a gut working definition of power. In other words, what power means to me?

What do I feel about power? How do I feel using and thinking about power? Each of you should go on this journey to understand the nature of power for yourself. It is important that as you are in a powerful profession, that you operate with a mindset to deal with power. You cannot go into powerful institutions with some of our notions of, well, if I go in there and I work hard and I do a good job and I write great stories and I do great things and people like me, everything will be all right. I'll get promoted. They'll see what I can do and everything will be all right. You are in a power institution and so it's been my job and someone asked me how did I get into this work. It's been my job to try to translate to people who are working in corporations and I've had the fortunate opportunity to give these kind of lectures and work with probably over 25,000 African Americans in management.

It's been my job to try to keep us focused that we are in a power institution and we have to have the tools and the skills of power. The desire to write and publish fair and honest information burns in the heart of every journalist that is the major reason why thousands of young African Americans each year choose journalism as a career and hundreds stay in the profession despite the many pitfall one faces within the fourth and fifth of states. The face of America is changing and so is the news industry to some extent but in order for African American journalists to grow and succeed in this industry they must understand and know where power comes from. Power doesn't necessarily comes from money or position we must realize the difference between the two. This past March in Dallas, Texas the National Association of Black Journalist Region 7 held its annual regional conference and Dr. Ron B. Brown was the keynote lunch and speaker. Dr. Brown's address focused on the nature of power, how we as African Americans shy away from discussing power and working within one of the most powerful institutions in this

country. Dr. Ron B. Brown. Your mindset about power is the key tool you will be able to work with and if we don't clear up the issues in our mindset and you will always be challenged because there's enough out there that will challenge you then it's understanding our mindset about power. With a working definition it can begin to clarify for you personally how you relate to power. It also can clarify you in terms of how you deal with other people. Why is this so important? I use this word I think in our lifetime and power is a word it's always it's not a word that people talk about a lot it's always kind of in a hush kind of thing it's always in the back room there's some power going some people are dealing with power in the back room and we're just putting it out front. Our job here is really to de-emotionalize thoughts of power that's why I keep talking about it I'll go around I'm on a crusade within the African American community we have

to de-emotionalize power we have to de-mythologize it because we've had some different messages about where power comes from and how to use it and what it means so we have to de-emotionalize that we have to get it we have to just talk about it as if we can sit right across tables and talk about power how many of you might have said power other than this talk anything about power while you were having lunch maybe one or two of us can you imagine that this is not a big deal somebody else this is a title of this is the ultimate power lunch but I mean where you were talking about power in the industry the power of the forces that you're dealing with the power of the editor so we've got a couple people over here had a had a discussion two people out of this room we've got to make this oh excuse me there four now it's seven all right got a few hands up yeah well okay they're out but again a power lunch says that people are getting together and in their relationships are trying to build for more power and so that's what we are talking about here is that as

we get together has to be something we are comfortable talking about and engaging as a critical discussion why is there so much trouble a little about the power breakfast to power lunch because people are comfortable sitting in those settings talking about power we don't talk about power enough we don't talk about so that is just another thing we're dealing with and yet it becomes a very critical thing why because power and the competition for power is the name of the game in any organization I'm going to make that flat statement power and the competition for power is the name of the game in any organization in every organization there is a competition for power the scenario goes like this in every organization this is a trying to achieve a goal there will be enduring and continuing differences they're going to be differences and these differences are going to be a raid against scared resources

so in this attempt to grab scarce resources there will be conflict therefore a struggle and it is those people who are able to excel in this conflict who will be the people who are able to attain the resources and so the message is through this competition for power and resources will come the most excellent players and that's the theory but in fact as we know it is not always the best person who emerges it's the person who can't place the game well so what we have to come to is that understanding that the competition for power is the name of the game now we go in if you go in with yeah I just want to work hard do well please my boss do all the right things and do them well and they will recognize me you are just doing an average job the job is above your competence above your ability

to do well you must choose to compete for power and I'm going to make that a choice you must choose to compete for power you must decide how you're going to engage the ongoing competition for power in your organization first you have to see it do you agree that in your organization and students you're not exempt because in academia there's some of the most power driven departments are in academia so don't you know don't think well well I'll wait till I graduate and then I'll I'll be ready you must learn to read the dynamics of power you must be able to see what is going on that in every organization there is this keen competition for power and that you must decide whether you're going to play in that competition in some cases you don't have an option you're in a role you're in a situation where you must play to survive in some places you might have a choice but in most cases

you the choice is made for you it's made for you by the dynamics of the situation you will have to try to compete for power now what do we talk about the competition for power we spent a lot of time with major players in organizations and we were trying to understand what why is power so important and this why is the competition so important and we asked some major players who were rising in the organization and having more influence what was it and they talked about well you know I'm here to gain more power and kept saying well why is that so important to you and when we heard this we started asking a number of African American players well you know what do you want from your organization and they said well you know I want more money I'm really into the money game other people said well you know I want to be recognized I want to be known for what I do other people said well I want a certain position in this organization so we kept hearing this mixed

message from the two sides well what is it on one side the major players were focused on power and the other side these folks were focused on money status and recognition so we came to see a certain dynamic from the black side it was you know if I can earn more money and get more status and recognition I'll probably get some power over time I'll earn power and then we went to the major players they said no no focus on power power will earn more money power earns more status and power earned to more position focus on power so it became very clear that from our cultural backgrounds we were walking into the game playing the wrong game and I'd like to say we were on a football field with a basketball in our hands came in with all the right skills we could move we can die dread the speed

we had the smarts we had all the right stuff but we looked up and here come 11 guys with pads cleats helmets and they would just run over us and then we were ready to leave then is terrible because we weren't playing the right game so we are challenged to understand the competition for power the competition for power is a name of the game that's what it's all about and so before you say well it only happens at the Fort Worth star telegram or it only happens on KTVX no it happens at the AMB church Reverend Brown and I were talking about that earlier it happens in your sorority it happens in your fraternity and we don't call it that we just call it you know stuff it happens in every organization so let us not mythologize predominantly white organizations as being power driven and we're kind of poor

black folks working through it and trying to survive we have the skills if we want to play the right game we're just not choosing at times to play the right game so when we go into organizations and we when we are present then the trick is how do we come to play the right game which is the competition for power I have a pretty core definition of power my definition of power is that power is the ability to impose one's personal preferences over the behavior of other people I just take that I want to just get very comfortable with that and there are a lot of other definitions powers ability to make things happen powers ability to get results power is ability to shape reality and there are a number of things but I I really want to get at the root of power at least in terms of our African context power

is the ability to impose one's personal preferences over other people now power is the ability to impose now we have to stop right there emotions come up impose in a black context you don't go imposing yourself on somebody we don't cotton to imposing on folk you don't go into your neighbor's house and just open up refrigerator door and you don't do that you ask you you add you become appropriate you learn not to impose so where we have to challenge when we talk about using power the feeling of imposing that other people feel very comfortable imposing we don't feel as comfortable well there's the station manager over there talking to John and Susan should I walk over there and impose myself well they

probably don't want me to come over there and just start a conversation maybe I you know I'll wait till they're finished now those of you have been in that setting how many times have you been talking to the general manager and other people walk up and impose themselves they're more I'm well oh hi what's going on here what's what's happening something I should be involved in no problem we have trouble imposing so we have to get through that part of definition then it says impose my personal preferences personal preferences what I want power is here's how I want it done here's how I want the story to go here's what I think we should cover here's what I think it's critical about this my personal preferences feeling comfort with my personal preference now you're not always going to get your personal preference in a power dynamic you're battling with somebody else about their personal preferences

versus yours but is that struggle that's the competition of personal preferences whose personal preferences are we going to follow is your way or my way that that struggle is there and we have to engage that's part of choosing to compete because we're competing about our view versus someone else's you why this is not a good story we need to put it like this why no I think it's a good story we need to do it like this and you're entitled to struggle for that as much as you can to get it the way you want it and over time you will get more power in being able to impose your personal preferences about it you must learn that skill if you are in that situation we say oh they keep they got me again I never get my way then you will have to learn how to compete for it and then thirdly imposing personal preferences over the behavior of other people well now you know I don't want to do the people what they've done to me I you know I mean I want to be nice I want them to see me as nice we shouldn't have to have conflict I shouldn't have to just be you know

it's a bad person to get them to do what I want them to do the fact is you must by any means that it's appropriate to your style impose your personal preferences over other people's behavior so you know there are people who will come to you and they sit and smile now I need your help on something and I wish you let's have lunch and let's get together and now I'm going to need your and you know and you you just feel so pleased to have done it you've done them a favor right and then what they have done is what impose their personal preferences over you or somebody while you're deep in something just breaks into your office and says I need to talk to you you know what this is important I need to talk to you well they're imposing their personal preferences on your behavior so I mean even the male person who decides to give you your male last is imposing some personal preferences over you so what we have to get comfortable whether this

is a working definition of power that engages us that we're going to be engaged about our personal preferences now on personal preferences you must feel entitled entitled you must have a sense of entitlement and this is coming out of a book about the children of influence as a psychiatrist named Coles wrote about children of influence they just had a sense of entitlement they just operate it with a sense of entitlement they just assume that they should have a dominant and influential role they just assume that they didn't ask they didn't earn it they assumed it in dealing with it if you can get the definition and working definition that works for you and you can internalize it then there become what we see are five major challenges for African-Americans in organizational life if you're a student you need to work on these five one is power which is

having an understanding of the power your own sense of power the power that goes on between people the competition for power and understanding the organizational power understanding what does your paper or your school what kind of power objectives are involved in your institution so it's understanding the dynamics of power the second major issue is politics and politics is a system of influence how it's driven by people in relationships it's a system of influence who knows who who's connected to who who knows how to get things done through other people so in your organization you can look through any organizations and see the lineup in any organization there are three or four teams of people competing for power and if you spend the time to analyze you can line up who's tied to who who's connected to who who's going to rise

and you always know it so it was when like when that general manager leaves what happens he takes four or five six people with and they go on to another station slowly but surely they wind up somewhere else right because that was the team that lost they go somewhere else and they try to win again so you want to see the system of influence within your organization a third major challenge is loyalty you have to be able to convey loyalty in your organization we have a big problem with this we have a problem with it in a large way we have difficulty conveying loyalty about our organizations I usually ask in the meeting if we were having a seminar can you say I love my paper I love my station man I love my school I love my journalism department and I hear always they don't say that about me why should I say it about them we must have an ability to convey loyalty let me tell you a real challenge you ever go to a black

fourth of your life party picnic people you ever see anybody walking around with a t-shirt with a red white blue flag on the front of it it would be rare way you know you when I go show up like that and I was at a white for July people had on sequin blue red and white blue hats and they had the only war with something red white blue I thought never had a black picnic we have difficulty conveying loyalty to this country so here we worked in inauguration and DC I was German but I realized that nobody ever anything red white blue nobody had a flag in their lapel we you know but we are in it you know if somebody said I'm finally proud I can say this is my country everybody cheer but the reality is there's certain expressions of loyalty we just don't do wing or do it we'll wear the cowboys colors before we wear something about red white and blue

so we have trouble expressing our loyalty so when we're talking about loyalty we'd like to say yeah well you know the paper is okay well yeah I'm okay I mean they treat me okay or I'll be here to the money runs out we don't are uncomfortable saying this is the greatest situation in the world I like this organization I like the people in it we got smart people I'm proud to be a part of it this is my paper we are uncomfortable now the issue here is why should we tell that lie huh bad as they are these people races and stuff going on they just fired a sister last week and they beat nothing on some people down in the print shop in those terrible why should we say we love it uh the fact is if you want to move up in the power game and have more influence you must be able no matter what your personal feelings are you must be able to convey loyalty

you must be able to do it enthusiastically because would you turn over any major responsibility to anyone who couldn't convey loyalty would you turn anything over would you turn over your paper your enterprise to someone in your organization think about having your own business would you turn it over to somebody who couldn't convey loyalty so if they were kind of half well you know yeah I like it here it's a job you're not going to you're not going to turn any power over to those people if anything you already think that kind of something wrong with them anyhow and then they they're here out of some affirmative action we got to have a few of them why would I want to give everything over so I ran into a a professor dr. Condolecia rice and she said George Bush is my president and I said right oh sister now I know everybody said uh huh uh but George Bush put her

in the middle of the Soviet-American negotiations as a chief negotiator she was in a position to make major impact on what happens between the United States and Russia and she's very clear about her lawyer George Bush is my president yeah no problem saying it from black folks everybody I don't know about you so anyhow these are some issues that we have to get through you in an organization you have to be able to comfortably express loyalty third fourthly fourth issue I'm moving fast socialization I talked to the sister out in the hallway I don't like doing this where you are going to have to do business and seek and compete for power in social settings that means in little bars where they're playing conway twitter and drinking some of this what is it loan star beer you got to be there you got to be in homes that you don't necessarily want to be in

you got to be with crowds of folks that you don't necessarily want to see on Sunday morning you got to be with folks and you got to have little coffees and little donuts with people that you're not that comfortable with you've got to work a way to be uh to work your business interests in social settings and we just soon go home and get down be regular we're tired of the day-to-day the nine to five we want to switch into you know because when I get in my car after I leave I turn that soul station all the way up want to get back to what's comfortable but the reality is we will have to do business and build relationships for power in social situation so we have to have those skills we can't be there feeling like how can I just get in here and out here in an hour they're going to ask me about Rodney Kane I don't want to talk oh god I have oh yeah okay I'll be there and then you get there and your whole attitude is on your face hmm or you don't go and they say what's wrong with someone so is she anti-social maybe

she's not on our team we feel uncomfortable they ain't playing my music you know ain't got no Whitney here you know no need of a name playing Luther they're playing some kind of I don't want to be here you've got to decide to be there because in those settings it's set up for you a social setting it's set up for you to skip the hierarchy and relate to people people who are higher in the hierarchy it gives you an opportunity to make impressions and to build relationships Dr. Ronald B Brown founder and president of Banks Brown Incorporated join us next week when we conclude Dr. Brown's address if you have a question or comment or suggestions ask the future in black America programs write us remember views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of this station or the University of Texas at Austin until we have the opportunity again for in black America's technical producer Cliff Hargrove I'm John L. Hansen Jr. please join us again next week cassette copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing

in black America cassettes longhorn radio network communication building B UT Austin Austin Texas 78712 that's in black America cassettes longhorn radio network communication building B UT Austin Austin Texas 78712 from the center for telecommunication services the University of Texas at Austin this is the longhorn radio network I'm John L. Hansen Jr. join me this week on in black America I think it is very important that we do focus on power because we are in a time and a period when we as individuals of color and as African-Americans should be in the halls of power understanding power with Dr. Ryan B Brown

this week on in black America