Three Ways African Americans Can Leverage Culture to Create Competitive Advantage

Beyond great skills, great tools, and great credentials, there's but one secret to competitive advantage for African American professionals: Culture!

In my podcast and in other blog posts, I have alluded to the fact that African American culture is an operating system that organizes and perpetuates our shared values. Beyond that fact, it's important to also emphasize the reality that our culture is not neutral. It is biased in favor of Black people. Everything in the culture, from beauty standards to work ethic to family structures, is designed to support Black excellence. 

For all of you upwardly mobile African American professionals who are committed to changing your lives from ordinary to amazing, you must turn to the culture for competitive advantage. This reaches far beyond climbing the corporate ladder. Some key benefits of leveraging the culture include: unleashing your full potential; working to thrive, not just survive; being part of a real community; making a positive impact; living free of toxins and stress; being a global citizen; and living in alignment with your Ancestral Promise.  

HOW DOES THE CULTURE CREATE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?
African American professionals have to meet five essential needs in order to achieve competitive advantage. To the extent that you - the African American professionals - can meet those needs for yourselves, you will unleash greater degrees of creative potential. In this way, strong cultural affiliation inspires intrinsically-motivated, passionate, loyal and dedicated Black professionals. 

1. African Americans need to be able to articulate the culture's vision clearly and succinctly. Very few African Americans are even aware of a shared cultural vision. Even fewer can articulate that vision. However, your ability to communicate the culture's vision clearly and succinctly, better prepares you to function as a cultural ambassador and, in turn, form strategic alliances.
2. African Americans need to be surrounded by colleagues and co-workers who share their values. It's the same from elementary school playgrounds to university dorms to professional break rooms; African Americans perform at a higher level when they don't have to expend so much energy either trying to make sure White people are comfortable or understand what they are doing. 
3. African Americans need to be celebrated for their successes. Whether it's participation in local festivals or sharing the spoils of success - i.e., flossing - African American culture encourages the visible celebration of personal success to the extent that it even rewards people who are good at celebrating. I'm reminded of professional football players, whose notorious end zone dances inspire other players and fans alike. 
4. African Americans need to be part of a movement with clear goals. We are faithful believers. When driving toward a new bold new reality - i.e., the Civil Rights Movement - our people have rallied the strongest for one other when compelled to achieve a visionary goal that everyone was clear about and wanted to see the entire group achieve.
5. African Americans need to be part of a culture that delivers meaning.  This encompasses both profit as well as impact. We prefer to do well while we do good.  Money is important but it is never enough to truly inspire the general population of Black professionals.  After their basic needs have been met, most African Americans will lose interest, if financial gains are all that is at stake. Meaning, purpose and service are key components to activating the spirit of competitive advantage in Black people. 

Culture has the power to inspire African American professionals to move themselves, to move mountains, and to support each other in a way that is truly unique. And if you couple it with cutting edge professionalism, supported by great technology, culture creates absolutely the most powerful competitive advantage for African Americans.

Culture & Competitive Advantage
Your ability to leverage the culture can create competitive advantage primarily because the culture can be imitated, but it cannot be duplicated. Unlike a product, a price point, or technological system, culture is something that comes out of the collective consciousness of the people. If you haven't lived it, you won't really know it form the inside out. For African American professionals who actively leverage the culture, they experience the ways in which it provides an environment that supports stronger networking, relationship-building, and loyalty. Not only that, when we're all on the same page, we also enjoy greater productivity and an increased sense of ownership. 

In conclusion, here's a three-part, intentional process for organizing your professional development around strong cultural values:

• Define the culture: Have you clarified the driving values, beliefs, and behaviors that help you to distinctively serve your clients, coworkers and family members (including the ancestors)?
• Align the culture: How do you turn your values into ongoing norms of behavior within your day-to-day activities? TIP: Associate with, and do business with the right Black people. 
• Study the culture: How are you getting and giving feedback? High-performing professionals religiously embrace opportunities to exchange ideas. Ensure that you gather input and feedback from colleagues, mentors and the people you serve.​