Dale Carnegie for the New Millenium...NOT!

I really must move to Seattle...so many interesting things show up in the Emerald City's newspapers.

Like this tidbit from columnist Jerry Large, talking about a book that is causing a slow controversy: Leadership 101 for White Men: How to Work Successfully with Black Colleagues and Customers by Chuck Shelton.

According to Shelton, white men make up most of the executive leadership in this country, yet make up less than 1/4 of the total workforce in this country. Ergo (in his mind), they should learn to get along with the little people--which, according to his research, are black folks.

*cues up "Ebony and Ivory" by Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney*

I am feeling some kind of way about this book. I guess I missed the memo that, once again, this country is being built on our backs. Yes, there may be higher concentrations of black folks in certain jobs (e.g. blue collar) in certain areas (like Detroit or Washington, DC), and I've noticed that there seems to be a disproportionate number of black women in the administrative ghettoes of Corporate America and federal and state government jobs. But to make a blanket statement that most of the workforce in the United States is black just seems off to me. To paraphrase Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Jerry Maguire: "Show me the statistics!"

Likewise, I didn't know that white men had different leadership strategies than black men...or Asian men...or Latino men. Or women. When John Maxwell writes his leadership books, he doesn't specify that only white, Christian men (like him) would benefit from his knowledge. I also don't recall Dale Carnegie specifying that only white people would (and should) know how to win friends and influence people.

Here's the product description from Amazon.com:

"Leadership 101 for White Men: How to Work Successfully with Black Colleagues and Customers is the first book that equips six million white men to lead, through seizing the opportunities and handling the challenges that diversity provides. Honed by the author through more than 250 presentations, and tested in relationships with people of color and women for forty years, this approach prepares white men to deliver better results, by building more effective relationships with black employees and customers. Through 101 essays, it speaks directly to the growing national appetite for straight talk that helps Americans communicate and achieve across race and gender lines."

This is comical on so many levels, the least being that women are not included among the people of color (check the wording of the second sentence). Also, since when did "of color" equal "black"? Maybe I learned differently, but usually the term "of color" refers to anyone who is not white/Caucasian/European; that means black/African/Caribbean/South Asian/Asian/Hispanic/Latino, and any and all combinations thereof. Please refer to the "One-Drop Rule" if you ever get confused.

Has this Shelton dude showed up on Sean Hannity's or Bill Reilly's show yet? Has FOX network made this mandatory reading for its executive staff? Somebody's buying it, because as of the time of this posting, there were only 2 copies of the book left in stock on Amazon.com. Oddly, no one has written a review, and the book was published in December 2008. Guess no one wants to put their neck on the block for a flame war.

Of course, it begs the question that Shelton may feel that there should be another manual that specifically deals with each ethnicity and race of persons of color, or do we all just look alike and thus can be lumped together? Or one that deals specifically with leadership strategies in dealing with women? What about when dealing with gay people? In which case, it's the US Census Form all over again, and you have to check off one box only.

I guess we all can't just get along.

Thanks for stopping by.