I continue to hear a common refrain from people I do not know, some friends and colleagues, and even some within my family. The words are different from person to person, but the message is pretty much the same. “The people speaking up about police brutality and racial justice are not saying anything about violence in the cities. They want to have demonstrations at sporting events, but nothing about black on black violence.”
It seems that only the black man must choose one or the other cause to support, or one organization. We should not allow the media or society to dictate we must choose one or the other.
There are THOUSANDS of single-issue community organizations. If you follow or watch any one of them, and only one of them, you will ALWAYS conclude they seem to ignore every other issue. It’s like saying, “I hate the Christian church because they only focus on Jesus and not the other spiritually important figures of the world, like Buddha or the prophet Mohammed.” Of course CHRISTian churches focus on Jesus! The most effective organizations pick a cause and stick with that one cause.
That does not mean that an individual can only support one cause. Yes, you will notice I reference #BLM or Black Lives Matter from time to time on my social media streams. And, yes, this particular movement focuses almost exclusively on racial justice and policing reform. But that is only part of the story. Certainly only part of my story.
I support non-violent protests of police criminal negligence and racism. AND I support any and all efforts to end violence in our neighborhoods, including black on black crime. And many many many people do. There are VASTLY more organizations dedicated to ending violence in inner cities – supporting troubled youth, improving education, getting guns out of the hands of those who should not own them, and uplifting neighborhood communities – than there are dedicated to racial equality and effective policing. And the combined giving to inner city youth programs, by the athletes and celebrities people tend to reference most often, is exponentially greater than anything they do for Black Lives Matter. Find your local Boys & Girls Club and you will find an athlete or celebrity behind it. The media may only cover the closed fists in the air, the protest marches, and the #BLM social media banners, but we would be remiss if we judge them on only what is shown on TV.
Has anyone actually researched the types of organizations Colin K supports? Unlikely!!! They just notice the kneeling and the #BlackLivesMatter movement the media talks about.
Being the change you wish to see does not require you to choose only one cause!
What’s in your wallet?
Your role as a citizen of the world is to build a “portfolio” of causes that matter to you and will allow you to get the greatest return on your investment of time, talent, and treasure. That is your challenge: Can you find a way to live the life God wants you to live and spread love the way so many spread hate? Be the change YOU want to be, not simply doing what society wants you to do.
For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. Luke 12:48
Be well. Lead on.
Adam
Covid is still an issue. Please stay safe and wear a mask.
Adam L. Stanley
Connections Blog Technology. Leadership. Food. Life.
Follow me on Twitter | Connect with me on Linked In | Comment below.
Several of my white colleagues that know me well, along with some friends, have asked me for a short list (ha!) of things I feel they should know if they do not take anything else out of the conversations about race in corporate America that have begun in earnest. So I figured I would also share them here for those who have not asked. Of course, race goes so much deeper than this, but if you don’t change anything else, change these three things.
Please do not act as if you “have the answers” – you do not. We know you are in charge, but need you to listen and engage in developing a plan. If you had the answers, and are in power, why haven’t you implemented anything?
Please do not tell us that you come from a diverse background or a poor upbringing and that qualifies you to discuss the black experience. We really do respect your difference. But we do not care right now. You still have privilege in that you walk into restaurants, stores, and corporate offices you look like a white man, regardless of your background.
Please never refer to a black person as “articulate” – perhaps the greatest insult to many professional black people, this statement implies your surprise at the “relative” ability of said person to form a sentence
Be well. Lead on.
Adam
Covid is still an issue. Please stay safe and wear a mask.
Adam L. Stanley
Connections Blog Technology. Leadership. Food. Life.
Follow me on Twitter | Connect with me on Linked In | Comment below.
We are the start of the needed change in the world. The more we talk openly and honestly to each other the better off we will be and the more we will contribute to the greater solution.
So this is my ask to you:
Be Mindful. Not everyone is coming to work each day feeling as though it’s business as usual. We have colleagues impacted by COVID, impacted by protests in their communities, and colleagues emotionally or directly impacted by racial injustice.
Be Empathic and Authentic that as we “return to the office” and “create a new normal” that each of us needs to find an appropriate work-life balance to ensure our physical, emotional, and/or mental health is put first.
Be Diligent. Hold your peers and managers accountable and speak out against racism when you witness it. If comfortable, constructively share feedback directly with the individual. If needed, report any instances of racism, however big or small they may seem to you, to your HR leader. Speaking up is not meant to “punish”, but to provide learning opportunities for individuals that may benefit.
Be Engaged. Below are some ways to start:
Join an Employee Resource Group and become an active member and leader.
This might be an annoying blog for those of you out there, none of my friends of course, that are promoting “Straight Pride” during LGBTQ Pride Month here in the United States. More to come on that. For now, just one thing that is currently on my pet peeve list.
“It’s just hard to think about them together.”
Close your eyes. Try to remember the last conversation you had with a co-worker or a distant friend about their life. They probably talked about their family and if they are married they may even have discussed their spouse. Think about the details of the conversation and what you were thinking during the conversation. Pause. At any time during the conversation were you visualizing your friend and his or her spouse having sex?
My guess is that the vast, vast, vast, vast, vast majority of you said no to that question. And that is of course no surprise because you talk about people’s families and their vacations and all kinds of other details on a regular basis at work without thinking about the particulars of what they do in their bedroom. It is therefore surprising to me how often I hear the comment around it being difficult to have conversations with gay people about their families because it’s hard to picture two men together or two women together. What exactly are you trying to picture?
This month is Pride Month. Someone you know is gay. Someone you know is a lesbian. Someone you know might be questioning. And all of them are unique individuals with different dreams, different backgrounds, different perspectives. Just like you are different. Let’s make this a month to learn about each other.
Happy Pride!
Be well. Lead on.
Adam
Adam L. Stanley
Adam L. Stanley Connections Blog Technology. Leadership. Food. Life.
The piece below was written by my sister, whose writing name is Soulbalm but most people just call her Soul. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to share it with you. Have a blessed Thanksgiving where unconditional love prevails and drama is minimized.
Be well. Lead on.
Adam
Thanks
by Soulbalm
To those who have been my friend over decades and years
To those who have befriended me in the last several years or months or days
To those who have listened and supported
To those who have heard a word worth sharing
To those who have encouraged me to keep moving forward when I wanted to sit down
To those who keep pushing me to go beyond my last effort into my brighter tomorrow
To my family for showing me what love looks like and feels like
To my Creator for showing me what love sounds like, thinks like, and what it consists of
To those who criticize for giving me something to think about and reach towards
To those who hate for inspiring me to love even harder
To those who troll for giving me people to pray over who need it more than the ones who they troll the hardest
To this media source for allowing me to connect with friends all over the world
To my children for allowing me to understand why God hasn’t quit on us yet
To death for reminding me my days are numbered
To life for reminding me that my purpose is not yet fulfilled
To doubt for making me dig deeper
To hope for making me reach higher
To faith for making me recognize the seen as powerful but the unseen as limitless
To fear for stretching my faith
To LOVE who makes all things possible
The business world today is in a state of flux. New companies enter the ecosystem every day, bringing with them new technologies and business models, any one of which could transform an entire industry from the ground up. Most companies want to use this current of change to drive innovation. But the magic bullet is elusive as ever — the question is how best to drive innovation. For many, acquisition seems the only path to take through these disruptive forces of change. But I’d argue there is a different and more flexible way forward: PARTNERSHIP.
Partners help a large organization pivot and adapt in today’s constantly changing business environment. Great outside partners help navigate rapidly changing waters. Those partners could include universities whose research expertise can be leveraged into game-changing R&D, accelerators that can source bleeding-edge innovations from all around the world, and agile startups that can experiment nimbly with new processes and ideas. By collaborating with smart organizations of all sizes, corporations drive productivity gains both for their customers and for their own professionals. It’s a win-win for all parties.
So how do you build a successful partnership? Still no magic bullet and I am by no means saying I’m the best at this. However, based on my experience forging partnerships with startups, tech accelerators, universities, and more, here are four elements I believe are essential:
Mutual benefit
In a good partnership, both partners should gain, emerging from the relationship better than they were before. To ensure this, it’s vital to define all parties’ goals clearly and upfront. According to a KPMG study, some of the most common goals for startups partnering with corporates are gaining access to the market (65%), raising capital (54%) or taking advantage of economies of scale (54%). Meanwhile universities pursuing outside partnerships may be seeking funding to replace public and government sources that have dried up in recent years. You’ll never know what any particular partner wants to get out of the relationship, though, unless you ask—every relationship is different.
Corporations should do some soul-searching too and figure out what their strategic objectives for the partnership are beyond broadly promoting innovation. What unmet client needs will your partner help address? How will the partnership augment your company’s own internal resources and processes? Great partnerships are based on a solid business case, not irrational impulse.
Trust
True partnerships depend on trust and faith, not just carefully worded contracts. You and your partner will be engaging with each other at a deeper level than a simple vendor/customer relationship, and that means you won’t just share goals and objectives but common values, too. Don’t hold back that deeper bond with too much red tape. As a 2016 Imaginatik/MassChallenge report on the state of startup/corporate collaboration puts it: “Lengthy up-front negotiations over IP concerns, access to talent, and expected time commitments may protect against exposure, but almost always lead to gridlock and failure.” Though it is important to define the terms of the relationship up front, a great partnership shouldn’t be micromanaged. Mutual understanding and trust should be your guide.
Evolution
This goes hand-in-hand with the trust element. You can never know at the beginning exactly how the relationship will develop—it continues to evolve as you and your partner learn more about each other. Many corporations will need to adapt their processes to suit the needs of their partners over time. For instance, some experts suggest creating special “fast-track” versions of processes like procurement and invoices specifically for startup partners, which often need to move faster than the large organizations with which you might be used to working. By contrast, university academic research often proceeds at a slower pace than corporations are used to. A study published in MIT Sloan Review suggests corporate partners define a specific timescale for each university engagement with an eye to encouraging more long-term instead of short-term involvement. Overall, the key is: adapt, adapt, adapt. You’ve invested in this partner, so do what it takes to make the relationship work for you.
Rough spots
No matter how successful your partnership ends up being, you will have down days that cause you to question the relationship. That’s okay—that is part of the process. Heck, I certainly don’t know of a perfect personal relationship and a corporate/startup partnership is completely optional for both parties. Leverage some of that trust and faith to talk through issues with your partner and brainstorm possible solutions. Do they need more access to mentors and advocates in your organization? Closer connections to clients? Faster turnaround on invoicing? Do what you can to make it happen.
It’s possible, of course, that the problems go deeper than that. Sometimes, a rough spot turns into a series of rough spots, which then turns into a sense that neither partner is getting the things out of this relationship that they wanted. That’s okay, too. Partnerships don’t have to last forever to be worthwhile—they can be for a season. Just remember to end things with your former partner on good terms: you never know when you might want to collaborate with them again in the future.
There’s no way around it: building great partnerships takes a lot of time and effort. When it’s done right, however, the results speak for themselves. Partnerships are probably the most effective way a large organization can drive innovation and adapt to today’s changing tech landscape—getting there just takes a bit of dedication and faith.
Be well. Lead On. Adam
Adam L. Stanley Connections Blog Technology. Leadership. Food. Life.
The business world today is in a state of flux. New companies enter the ecosystem every day, bringing with them new technologies and business models, any one of which could transform an entire industry from the ground up. Most companies want to use this current of change to drive innovation. But the magic bullet is elusive as ever — the question is how best to drive innovation. For many, acquisition seems the only path to take through these disruptive forces of change. But I’d argue there is a different and more flexible way forward: PARTNERSHIP.
This goes hand-in-hand with the trust element. You can never know at the beginning exactly how the relationship will develop—it continues to evolve as you and your partner learn more about each other. Many corporations will need to adapt their processes to suit the needs of their partners over time. For instance, some experts suggest creating special “fast-track” versions of processes like procurement and invoices specifically for startup partners, which often need to move faster than the large organizations with which you might be used to working. By contrast, university academic research often proceeds at a slower pace than corporations are used to. A study published in 