The Way Up E-Book

Errol L. Pierre

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 356

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Practical and actionable advice for minorities seeking concrete strategies to help them move up the corporate ladder In The Way Up: Climbing the Corporate Mountain as a Professional of Color, accomplished executive Dr. Errol L. Pierre delivers a pragmatic and actionable guide to help underrepresented individuals from all ethnic backgrounds achieve their professional goals and elevate their careers in today's virtual workplace. The book takes a step-by-step approach to understanding the skills and strategies required to move from entry-level and middle management roles to the executive ranks. Readers will also find: * A collection of key lessons and short stories containing practical advice designed to help readers achieve their professional potential * Strategies proven to work in the real-world, full of innovative insights and practical know-how * Tips on navigating the offices and Zoom calls that make up today's employment environment An indispensable discussion of what it takes to succeed in today's hyper-competitive professional environment, The Way Up will earn a place in the libraries of newly graduated businesspeople as well as seasoned pros seeking to advance their careers.

Leseprobe

PRAISE FOR THE WAY UP

Moving up the corporate ladder doesn't naturally occur by just being yourself. You need to learn the way up, and this book provides pragmatic advice that will help you greatly, especially if you are a professional of color. Act today!

— Jihoon Rim, NYU Stern Visiting Professor and former CEO of Kakao

Dr. Errol Pierre has provided a pathway to minority inclusion in the highest levels of corporate America by sharing his enthralling personal story. An important read for those pursuing leadership roles and aspiring to the C-suite.

— Shelly McDonald-Pinkett, MD, FACP, CPHQ, Chair (I) Department of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine

Executives of color in corporate settings face unique challenges that require intention, support, and specific strategies to facilitate success. The stories and truths shared in Errol's book provide very useful insights and examples that can help any professional reach their goals and navigate increasingly complex realities in the workplace…I highly recommend it!

— Willem Genece, Executive Advisor, Coach and Coaching Practice Leader at Crenshaw Associates

Errol Pierre's career, with still many years to go, has already been highly successful. As someone who “knew him when,” I am not surprised. Errol possessed both a high IQ and a strong bias for hard work, even as a recent college graduate. He held himself to a high standard of performance and simultaneously was someone everyone wanted to work with. I am so thrilled that he is sharing his professional philosophy for achievement and his invaluable lessons learned. This book offers much for everyone.

— Jefferson Grahling, President, Circulo Health

This book should be the rule and guide for any executive of color who is trying to take their career to the next level.

— Leonard Achan RN, MA, ANP

The Way Up is a great primer on corporate innovation and change. Errol writes an inspiring book that stands out as a signal of systemic change.

— Jerrold Delaine, Professor and Real Estate Developer

ERROL L. PIERRE

WITH JIM JERMANOK

THE WAY UP

CLIMBING THE CORPORATE MOUNTAIN AS A PROFESSIONAL OF COLOR

Copyright © 2023 by Errol L. Pierre. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Pierre, Errol L., author.

Title: The way up : climbing the corporate mountain as a professional of color / Errol L. Pierre.

Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2023] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022030909 (print) | LCCN 2022030910 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119893264 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119893288 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119893271 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: African Americans—Employment. | Career development—United States. | Office politics—United States. | Management—United States.

Classification: LCC HD8081.A65 P54 2023 (print) | LCC HD8081.A65 (ebook) | DDC 331.6/396073—dc23/eng/20220805

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022030909

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022030910

Cover Design and Image: Wiley

PREFACE

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the world has been presented with a plethora of lessons on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), with racial equity surging to the top of many corporate conversations. Leaders, corporations, and organizations were forced to reevaluate strategies to infuse diversity, equality, and inclusion into their organizational cultures and value sets. Society demanded an honest assessment to wipe out structural inequalities that limit the career trajectories of employees of color.

The simple reality for many corporations is that cultivating an environment where all employees are able to progress equitably requires systemic change. However, such change has been severely lacking to date and unsupported by a genuine commitment to making it happen, despite the creation of numerous new diversity programs.

The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, and so many other Black Americans has brought the long history of systemic racism in the United States into sharp focus. Pressure is growing on corporate leaders to consider how their companies can address and correct ongoing racial injustices. However, they have encountered such pressures in the past and have essentially chosen to do very little. Is it realistic for us to expect substantial change now?

Add to this the fact that the lives and livelihoods of people of color (POC) in America have been disproportionately affected by the current pandemic. Both Black and Hispanic/Latinx Americans have died from COVID-19 at more than twice the rate of White Americans. Those who survived were much more likely to have been fired or furloughed. These bitter realities further emphasize the need for serious change in corporate America.

Corporate America's top ranks look nothing like the country they serve. We must consider the daunting statistics for a moment. Black Americans make up 12.4% of our country's population.1 But they only represent 8% of white-collar professionals, a number that has stayed steady since 2013.2 This despite an increasing number of Black graduates from colleges and universities. Furthermore, Black professionals in 2018 held just 3.3% of all executive or senior leadership roles, which are defined as within two reporting levels of the CEO, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.3 This number has also remained static for decades and has been justified and condoned by corporate leaders who insist that there are simply not enough qualified candidates—a patently false claim.

Among Fortune 500 companies in America, less than 1% of CEOs are Black!4 Today, there are only four, down from a high of six in 2012 according to Forbes.5 For Black women, the situation is even bleaker. In 2020, women held the top job at just 37 of these 500 companies, a record high of 7.4%.6 However, only one of these women is Black. Numbers improve only slightly for Hispanic/Latinx CEOs, representing 4% of the Fortune 500, despite representing 18.7% of the U.S. population as of the latest census data.7

The underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic/Latinx professionals is particularly dire in the highest echelon of corporate America: Boards of Directors. According to Harvard Business Review, Black board members represented only 4.1% of the board members accounted for by the Russell 3000—while 37% of these firms did not have any Black board members at all!8 Board members of color represented only 10.4% of all board members pre-pandemic.9 However, changes have begun to emerge since America's racial awakening. As of 2021, nearly half of all new S&P 500 board members were people of color.10 While the gains have helped close the gap minimally, certain groups, like Hispanic/Latinx populations still lag far behind.11 Thus, these changes must become a movement, long-lasting and systemic, as opposed to a mere moment of window dressing or, even worse, tokenism.

Today's workforce contains many millions of deserving and promotable employees of color who are unfairly stuck in lower and mid-level management positions. This population is the target audience and foundation for The Way Up, an advisory, anecdotal, and motivational book written for those who seek to attain the executive ranks. This guidebook is a step-by-step approach to understanding the skills and strategies required to elevate oneself in their company or organization. It is told in an easily digestible series of anecdotes that lead to actionable advice. Now more than ever, it is essential for employees of color to learn how to navigate through the halls and digital Zoom calls of corporate America.

In the past, preparation, guidance, and mentorship for diverse candidates was never a true focus area for corporations. Although work was supposedly done in this arena, it was perfunctory at best and such activities never yielded meaningful changes. Once again, the number of underrepresented race and ethnicities in senior-level or C-Suite roles has systemically remained low despite an enormous number of qualified, educated, and experienced candidates.

According to USA Today, “For decades, corporate America has failed to hire, promote, and fairly pay Black men and women, stalling many from rising above middle management … This stark racial divide has a cascading effect, stagnating income levels and helping to worsen the race, class and wealth gap that is yawning even wider during the COVID-19 pandemic.”12 Until corporate America gets its act together, employees of color need to strategize about how to advance in a system where they are often destined to fail.

I have written The Way Up to address these current realities in a meaningful, actionable, and impactful way. In the past 18 years, I was indeed fortunate to find the way up the corporate mountain to a corner office. I am a former chief operating officer of a large health plan and currently serve as senior vice president of the largest nonprofit health plan in New York State. As a frequent speaker and panelist, an alumnus of both Fordham University and New York University, and an active LinkedIn user, I encounter hundreds of Black and Hispanic/Latino employees in middle management who feel stuck in their careers. There's nothing I enjoy more than counseling these aspiring employees on key career decisions. I want to use my story to galvanize and inspire those millions of diverse employees who have managed to make it to white-collar management, but find themselves frustrated on their path to becoming executives.

While corporate leaders say they are seeking to increase their diversity, equity, and inclusion in this day and age, way too many employees of color can no longer tolerate years of stagnant professional growth. The BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) workforce has repeatedly been marginalized, demotivated, and disempowered.

However, there is now a ray of hope. In the past year, an increasing number of American corporate executives have become enlightened to the bleak reality of systemic racism. It is high time for employees of color to be prepared for the opportunities that may present themselves in this new normal, post-George Floyd world.

The Way Up incorporates all the life-transforming and career-transforming lessons I have learned throughout the years as well as specific quotes from successful executives of color who also moved up in corporate America. Each chapter of the book provides pragmatic, action-oriented advice for the reader to pursue. The culmination of this advice will yield a full-fledged roadmap for organizational advancement supported by proven strategies, innovative insights, and practical know-how. The Way Up will also fill a glaring lapse in available literature on this subject: there are hardly any books advising people of color how to attain senior leadership positions in their companies despite the recent spotlight on diversity, inclusion, and racial equity.

Please note: For purposes of this book, I will use racial and ethnic identity definitions as described in Section 5.7 of the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition, with full understanding that these terms continue to evolve and be discussed and debated in our society.13

NOTES

1

.  Nicholas Jones, Rachel Marks, Roberto Ramirez, and Merarys Rios-Vargas, “2020 Census Illuminates Racial and Ethnic Composition of the Country,” United States Census Bureau, August 12, 2021.

2

.  Jessica Guynn and Brent Schrotenboer, “Why Are There Still So Few Black Executives in America?,”

USA Today,

August 20, 2020.

3

.  Jeanne Sahadi, “After Years of Talking About Diversity, the Number of Black Leaders at US Companies Is Still Dismal,”

CNN,

June 2, 2020.

4

.  Khristopher Brooks, “Why So Many Black Business Professionals Are Missing from the C-Suite,” CBS News, December 10, 2019.

5

.  Ruth Umoh, “The Dearth of Black CEOs: How Corporate Diversity Initiatives Ignore People of Color,”

Forbes,

December 10, 2019.

6

.  Emma Hinchliffe, “Women Run 37 Fortune 500 Companies, a Record High,”

Fortune,

May 18, 2020.

7

.  Jones et al., “2020 Census Illuminates Racial and Ethnic Composition.”

8

.  J. Yo-Jud Cheng, Boris Groysberg, and Paul M. Healy, “Why Do Boards Have So Few Black Directors?”

Harvard Business Review,

August 13, 2020.

9

.  Kosmas Papadopoulos, “U.S. Board Diversity Trends in 2019,”

ISS Analytics,

May 31, 2019.

10

. Spencer Stuart, “2021 S&P 500 Board Diversity Snapshot,” July 2021,

https://www.spencerstuart.com/research-and-insight/2021-sp-500-board-diversity-snapshot

.

11

. Peter Eavis, “Board Diversity Increased in 2021. Some Ask What Took So Long,”

New York Times,

January 3, 2022.

12

. Guynn and Schrotenboer, “Why Are There Still So Few Black Executives?”.

13

. American Psychological Association, “Racial and Ethnic Identity,”

APA Style,

September 2019,

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language/racial-ethnic-minorities

.

INTRODUCTION: THE CORPORATE MOUNTAIN

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.

—Rumi, thirteenth-century Persian poet and Islamic scholar

In 2016, I took my first solo trip to Thailand, with a goal to climb the great Doi Inthanon. Located in the city of Chiang Mai, it is the highest mountain in the entire country. Indeed, it stands at 8,415 feet high. At the top is a shrine called the Summit of Doi Inthanon, a tribute to Inthawichayanon, who was the King Ruler of the second-biggest city in Thailand, Chiang Mai, from 1870 to 1897. Before dying, he requested his ashes be buried there to call attention to the preservation of the forest and wildlife. Since then, Doi Inthanon has been maintained by the Thai government and has become a popular tourist attraction.

Trekking up that mountain takes a lot of logistics and preparation. While there are many trails to the top, it's essential to have a tour guide who will know which trails to explore. For example, the trails Kew Mae Pan or Angka are fairly stable and predictable. However, there are other trails that have not been maintained well at all. They are not only difficult but may be downright dangerous. My tour guide not only helped me navigate which path to take, but also shared other insightful information.

The Thai mountain Doi Inthanon is prone to a variety of unpredictable weather conditions. Whether you hike during the hot dry season or in the rainy season, the weather when you start hiking may be dramatically different when you summit this climate changing mountain at the hike's end. Even though the day started out fairly warm without a cloud in the sky, I was advised by my tour guide to pack a poncho and long sleeves just in case.

On my way, I was mesmerized by the Wachirathan Waterfall, one of many stunning views to absorb on my way to the top. Often, the trails there are winding and circular—certainly not a straight path as you hike up the hills and valleys. While hiking a mountain, it's important to have key supplies on hand. Water and protein bars keep you hydrated and fortified. Other vital equipment should include a walking stick, appropriate climbing boots, bug spray, Band-Aids, sun block—not to mention a map and a compass, which have saved many a climber.

What does this have to do with corporate America? For many people of color, climbing the ranks is more akin to a mountain than a ladder. Ladders have rungs that are equally spread apart, allowing for a measured ascent. Mountains are completely different. Mountain climbing routes are winding and unpredictable. They are root-littered and rock-studded. At times, they require a climber to take a more circular route or to double back if necessary for proper ascent.

However, we don't approach corporate America in that manner. We're not prepared for the trip. We don't have the stamina or the energy for the climb. We haven't packed the necessary tools, equipment, and provisions, nor have we found ourselves an appropriate guide. We fail to realize that the path to the top is not a straight line, but a winding one that will include peaks and valleys. And once we reach a new echelon along our journey, we often don't pause to enjoy the views.

As people of color, we often incorrectly compare ourselves to our White colleagues and their accompanying promotions and raises. The reality is that we're not climbing up the same structure! The corporate ladder exists for some in America, but not for people of color and immigrants. For us, ascending the ranks in corporate America is more akin to climbing a mountain. We're also not prepared for lateral moves along our career. Climbing mountains sometimes requires that we go left or right instead of straight up. Lateral moves in corporate America are sometimes frowned on, but they are almost a necessity for people of color. We must learn to incorporate that level of forethought in our decisions. I learned that walking up a mountain in a circular way can seem slower, but it is safer and wiser, and surely recommended by most guides.

In the same way, we often fail to pack the necessary climbing equipment. For example, we jump into conversations with our boss on our annual performance reviews without the necessary preparation. That is not the time to ask for a raise or a promotion. Those conversations should have taken place well before such a review. Additionally, we underestimate the climb and don't realize the amount of blood, sweat, and tears it will take to reach the top. Some of us may burn out. Many of us exert too much energy early in the climb and can't last the whole way through. We may forget or lose our poncho or compass. When stress or anxiety overcomes us, we're simply not ready for a downpour.

We don't realize how much time we'll spend working on projects that are probably more difficult than those of our White peers—and without the kind of support that they have access to. Through it all, you'll encounter people who won't just seek your downfall along the way—they'll also try to distract you from your mission or vision.

The sooner we realize that our paths for advancing our careers are wildly different from those of our peers, the better we can prepare for our journey. If we can anticipate the highs and lows, the long trails, the detours, and the inclement weather, then we can better prepare for becoming a trailblazer.

Arming employees of color with the right stories, advice, and tools is essential for their growth. Indeed, there are shining examples of top echelon corporate mountain climbers for them to be inspired by. Furthermore, many of the most popular self-help books on career advancement or leadership are written by authors who never made the climb themselves. They're based on stories from those who climbed only corporate ladders, not corporate mountains. No wonder people of color are so underrepresented in the executive corporate ranks.

We must discuss and define success. Success can mean many things to many different people. The journey to the upper echelons of corporate America is just one avenue of fulfillment. But this journey is not for the faint of heart or for those who are unwilling to do the hard work required. However, if the work, warnings, and difficult journey ahead do not deter you, then this book is for you.

CHAPTER 1Find Your Purpose and Your Passion: The Resignation Letter That Led Me Back to My Truth

Man. He sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.

—His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet

I've written three resignation letters in my 18-year career, and I've had the somewhat unusual experience of working at only two companies so far in my entire professional career. I left my first organization after close to 10 years, and then returned to it after about 6 years at a second company. Typing my third resignation letter was the result of one of the most difficult decisions I ever made. I remember my trembling hand when I was composing the letter in Microsoft Word. By this point, I had reached the pinnacle of my career. I was a Black executive in a C-Suite role; an anomaly. My social capital had instantly exploded. I was invited to speak on numerous panels to share my secrets of success. An investment bank asked me to join a panel of distinguished professionals to discuss the psychology of being Black in corporate America. I was even invited to a rooftop brunch one summer with Black celebrities to hang out, network, and mingle. This new world I was introduced to came about because of my new executive title. A new C-Suite title that had the benefit of opening doors that were previously closed. Doors I never even knew about. Yet here I was, resigning from the job that had brought me so much prestige and cachet.

At the time of writing my letter, I was depressed. My brain told me I should be happy because the world said I was a success, but my heart felt unfulfilled and defeated. I had an empty feeling inside of my soul that yearned for purpose. It is unsettling to strive for something your whole life and, upon achieving it, not experience the jubilation you expected. For so many years, I idolized the three letters “COO.” They were my oasis. If I could just achieve a certain executive level in corporate America, I thought would be happy. I believed I would finally be content. . . . How wrong I was.

In the height of my feelings of emptiness, I remember waking up at 5 a.m. to start my daily commute to work. I soon arrived in downtown Manhattan blocks away from my office. If I did not have a meeting or conference call scheduled, I would walk around the South Street Seaport aimlessly. At the time, there seemed to be an invisible line from the entrance of my office building. Any time I passed through that entryway, I would automatically feel a heavy sadness weigh upon my shoulders. I wondered why.

Could it be that I had meticulously planned for this role for the past 10 years and miscalculated the benefits? To be clear, that time consisted of 120 months of intentionally making professional and personal decisions that would uniquely qualify me to reach the top. I chose the jobs to apply for specifically patterned on how previous successful executives reached their C-Suite roles. Based on promotional advice from various leaders in my company, I went back to school for a graduate degree specializing in health policy and financial management. I focused on volunteering and community service because I felt it was important, although I did benefit indirectly from the networking opportunities that soon revealed themselves.

Everything I did had a rhyme and reason. The journey was long but I never let up. I was never deterred or discouraged. The culmination of all my hard work and focus led me to this new position. My new reality. But what happens to the dog chasing the car when that car finally stops? What's next, if anything? Not knowing my next steps left me with feelings of emptiness.

Stanley E. Grayson

Board Member of TD Bank, N.A., and Mutual of America Investment Corporation

“I grew up in a household where if I heard this once, I probably heard it a thousand times: just being as good is not enough, you have to be better. And every day I hear that little voice … whether it was in business or sports, I always found that the harder I work the luckier I got.”

I placed too much emphasis on my new position. I learned that external validation can be fleeting and superficial. It only goes so far in feeling accomplished and fulfilled from within. Although I was earning more money than ever before, I discovered that the formula for enhancing my income literally equated to the suffering of others. If I cut my operating budget, for example, I earned a higher bonus. But such a budget cut meant layoffs and even more. A husband or wife coming home from work that day and telling their family that they were out of work. It seemed that the more layoffs I approved, the more money I would earn. In good conscience, I could not do it. I could not send parents home without an income. I would not do it!

These types of strategies are commonplace in corporate America. Being in my position led me to hurt, not help, my community. I knew that if I was not part of the solution, then I was becoming a part of the problem. At the time, I knew my talents were not being used for the improvement of my neighborhood. The Bronx is the bottom of the barrel in healthcare. It is the 62nd county out of 62 in New York state when it comes to health outcomes. How could I squander God's gifts and blessings by not helping those less fortunate than I was? Especially those who reminded me of my own parents: working class immigrants just trying to make ends meet. My dad found the way out from the farm to the fast city. His homeland, Haiti, is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. He grew up on a small farm and ended up with a son working in a corporate corner office. I felt compelled to not only never forget where I came from and whom I came from, but also to make damn sure I helped as many people as I possibly could along the way.

So, with a quivering hand, I finished that resignation letter, printed it out, and personally handed it to my CEO. I walked back to my desk waiting for the consequences of my decision, but my head was held high.

LESSON 1.1: PRIORITIZE YOUR PURPOSE

Before you start out your career journey, keep the end in mind. If you have already started your career, it is still not too late to define your purpose. Your purpose becomes your compass as you march up your corporate mountain. Your purpose will guide you on where to go. Your purpose will tell you when to say “yes” to a particular opportunity, but most importantly will also help you learn to say “no” to certain opportunities as well. Your purpose is the reason you are on the planet. Take the time to ask yourself why you are here. If you start there, the rest of your life will quickly fall into place. And rest assured, your purpose may change over time, and that is completely okay.

I left a role I spent 15 years pursuing because I placed a fancy title and a higher salary ahead of my purpose. When you compromise your purpose on your way to the top, you'll inevitably wake up one day with everything you ever asked for, but still feel empty inside. For the sake of your career and your mental health, you need to always make sure you are a part of something bigger than yourself.

In my experience, I've seen that many people, out of expedience, first pursue a job, and then try to transform it into a career. They then attempt to retrofit that career into their purpose. Do not work backwards. Pursuing your life this way can lead you to trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Your purpose always must come first! Through mentoring, I learned my place on Earth is to be a resource to others on their path to becoming the best version of themselves. My job in advancing health equity has become the vehicle I use to pursue my purpose.

Once you understand your purpose on Earth, other life decisions become easy. Every job I have taken and excelled in has brought me closer to my purpose. Once you have purpose, you do not have to worry about your salary. You'll be getting paid for work you would have done for free. Work that aligns with your passions. You'll find that the benefits of working will greatly outweigh any of the negatives, costs, or burdens. With purpose, you never feel lost.

There are too many rudderless employees unhappy in their career. I speak with them often. Their unhappiness largely starts with a misalignment between their profession and their purpose. Their position in the company does not allow them to pursue their passions. They prioritize their paycheck above and beyond all other pursuits.

The other advantage of living out your purpose is if you ever do end up in a job that does not align with your mind, body, and soul, you will know very quickly. Your spirit will scream it from the rafters. While reaching the pinnacle of my professional career in title, salary, and responsibilities was an amazing achievement, it did not align with my purpose. That's where the emptiness came from. If you are only working for a title and a higher salary, you will always long for more. Money cannot buy enough things to fill the emptiness you will feel in your heart.

LESSON 1.2: LINK YOUR PASSION TO YOUR PROFESSION

Once you've landed on a purpose, you can start to link your passion to your profession—to be a part of something bigger than yourself.

Before there were Harpo Productions and OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network), there was a little Black girl named Oprah who used to interview her dolls.

Before becoming a regular on Shark Tank, as a young man Daymond John sewed wool hats and sold them on his block.

Before she led Pacific Gas and Electric as the first Latina CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Geisha Williams worked a summer job at a local power company and discovered her passion.

What these powerful people of color were able to do was turn a tiny seed of passion into gigantic redwoods of prosperity. They all became part of something bigger than themselves. They were motivated and led by their passion.

Finding a project to pour yourself into may seem daunting. I've learned to lean on the circumstances that are hidden right in front of you. For example, my love for mentoring came from the pain of not really having an older brother involved in my life. With a 10-year age gap between us, my older brother and I were never really close. As I grew up, I always longed for a better relationship with him. In his absence, I subconsciously gravitated toward older students in both high school and college. For example, while running track and field as a freshman in college, I befriended Robert Westman, a recent Fordham graduate who was the captain of the track and field team. He would later be inducted into the Fordham University Hall of Fame. I looked up to him, and we formed a close bond. He took me under his wing and became a brother to me during my first few years of college. He helped me keep my head on straight. Older male figures like Robert helped fill the vacuum I felt from not having a meaningful relationship with my older brother. As I got older, I felt compelled to do the same for others and pay it forward.

Many of our passions originate from painful passages of our life. Take the time to reflect on those types of life experiences and write them down. Your results will become the basis for any of your future decisions. Whenever you pursue a new endeavor, the key question to ask is if it brings you closer to your passion. If the answer is yes, move forward and pursue. If it is no, reverse course and reevaluate.

In economics, there is a concept called opportunity cost. The idea behind opportunity cost is to quantify the value of the choice you decide against. For example, choosing to go back to school means that, to you, the value of school is higher than whatever you decided not to do.

Life will always be about decisions and tradeoffs. Understanding the opportunity costs of your decisions through the lens of your passion is the best way to ensure that you stay fulfilled in all that you do. Any time you make a decision that does not align with your purpose and passion, you are placing less value on the very reason why you are on this planet. It makes no sense to compromise your purpose.

LESSON 1.3: THINK BIGGER THAN YOURSELF

Take a minute to realize that, whatever obstacles you are facing in life, you're probably not alone. As you brainstorm solutions to those problems, always remember to think bigger than yourself. The absence of my older brother turned into a lifelong commitment to mentoring young men of color in New York City. Similarly, try to solve your own problems by coming up with solutions that will benefit the rest of your community. Once you view the world through this lens, doors of opportunity will open up for you. In an attempt to fix the bigger issue, you will meet other people along the way who will want to help. You will slowly build a coalition of the willing. If you were bad at math as a kid, volunteer at an afterschool math-tutoring program. Who knows, you may even start your own tutoring company. The possibilities are endless. Dream audaciously.

CHAPTER 2Embrace Your Defining Moments: A Bright Future Is Only Built Upon the Foundations of Your Past

Un pour tous, tous pour un.

(All for one and one for all.)

—Alexandre Dumas, in his legendary 1844 novel The Three Musketeers

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