Tuesday, June 11, 2013

"No Excuses" - Making the Effort to Success June 2013

Every person would like to envision their life similar to someone who has achieved success. Kobe Bryant made $60 million and Bill Gates is worth $67 billion. I would like to add my personal favorites, Warren Buffett with a net worth of $55 billion and Bob Johnson with $550 million.  Which person and which field of endeavor does your mind gravitate towards? Some African Americans chose to take a less traveled road to success.  These individuals understood the obstacles they would face, and dedicated themselves to challenging those obstacles.  A set of trailblazing African American CEOs accepted the incredible challenge of becoming leaders of multibillion dollar enterprises. They accomplished an incredible feat and one that should be analyzed.  Consider that African Americans make up less than 1% of the CEOs of the Fortune 1000 companies today. 

They sought the education, the experience and most of all beating the "perception" of incapability. They probably hung on to an inner belief in "no excuses" during the many difficult times in their journey. Black Profiles illustrated the top 6 African American CEOs of the Fortune 500 largest companies in the United States.  They represent $171.2 billion in revenue, $21 billion in profits with 855,000 employees worldwide. Many may not know the individual names, but the  enterprises they manage have recognizable names. 
  1. Kenneth C. Frazier  -          Merck & Co., Inc.
  2. Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.  -  TIAA-CREF
  3. Kenneth I. Chenault  -         American Express
  4. Don Thompson  -                McDonald's Corporation
  5. Ursula M. Burns  -               Xerox Corporation
  6. Clarence Otis, Jr.  -            Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden,etc. )
President Obama gave an incredible  "No Excuses" speech. What's your excuse?