Do Not Get Too Casual; It is Still Work!

ZOOM Etiquette

Dianne Floyd Sutton, aka “Lady D!”

Great, you are working at home.  You wanted this.  Now we can all Zoom, Skype, and use Micro Teams and whatever.  Always remember it is still work.  Work is a mindset – an attitude – your style of thinking about what you do.  Many of you said you could do it at home and even better.  Well…

In the olden days, 1987, I started my business in my basement in Washington, DC.  I converted the whole basement into an office setting.  I would get dressed every morning, grab my handbag, and walk out of the front door.  I would then walk to the back-basement entrance to enter my business. Now that is not necessary today, but it still helps to create a symbol or protocol or habit that enables you to enhance your mindset for your work, start your day.  You get the idea.

Always remember that you have entered into a contractual agreement with your employer.  Even though you are working at home, that contractual agreement still exists.  Show integrity.  Do your job.  Use your professional presence.

As Lady Di. I have noticed that many employees are confusing work with social time or their “me” time.  So in hopes of keeping you employed, a list is begun of etiquette for these times.  With more observations, I will include more.  What do you think?  What would you add?

ZOOM Etiquette Suggestions

  1. Keep your background neutral. No one needs to see your trophies, posters, or anything sexy.
  2. Unless you work for a political organization, political signs, buttons, banners, or t-shirts should not be visible.
  3. Dress for success, so watch your casualness and grooming. Wrinkled clothes do not look good on the camera. Take the lead from your supervisor on what to wear when everyone is visible.  What is she or he wearing when you video conference?
  4. Allow quiet moments for comments or media to catch up. A few moments of silence is typical.
  5. Remember to keep a pleasant expression on your face. You are on the camera.
  6. No eating or smacking or gum chewing on camera.
  7. Yes, I know you need that coffee, tea, shake, water near you, but what happens if anything spills at the wrong time.
  8. Mute the audio if you get angry and want to say something you may regret later or express a bodily function.

Always remember that you have a professional presence, even at home.

 Dianne Floyd Sutton, aka “Lady Di,” is a savvy “give it to you straight with no chaser” human resources expert turned author.  Her book “Workplace Savvy,” provides practical applications and strategies for navigating your career in the workplace. Workers of any age or generation can benefit from this fantastic resource guide that provides a framework for employees to be successful in the current and the post-COVID-19 workplace environment.

What do you get when you sign-up for a Dianne Sutton event?  You get an accomplished speaker, facilitator, educator, author, coach, mentor, and businesswoman.  She is an expert and pioneer in the psychology of people.  Do you want humor and engagement?  You want an intellectual “truth-teller?”  Do you want a coach with compassion and empathy?  Then you better hire Dianne Sutton because she has all of these qualities to help you and your organization.

To learn more about Lady Di, click here to visit her official website.

 

Week of July 12, 2018

Black Press Business/Economic Feature by William Reed

 

Who has had economic impact across black communities similar to Jesse Jackson?  At their 191st, convention celebration the Black Press of America presented a “Lifetime Legacy Award” to Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson warts and all.

Jesse Jackson is one of the most influential African-Americans of the late 20th century.  Over the past 50 years, Jackson has played a pivotal role in Black Americans’ equality, empowerment, equality and economic and social justice.  He rose to prominence working within Martin Luther King Jr’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As he evolved, foundered People United to Save Humanity (PUSH), the organization he founded in 1971, Jackson pressed for broader employment opportunities for African-Americans.

Black publishers see Jesse is one of the most important figures in American Blacks’ economic history.  Beyond his forays in national politics, Jessie has made the most Blacks millionaires.    Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. (born October 8, 1941) has gained world-wide acclaim as a civil rights activist, Baptist minister and politician as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988.  He served as shadow U.S. Senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997 in one of two special unpaid “statehood senator” posts to lobby the U.S. Congress.

Black business people themselves, Black Press publishers honored Jackson for motivating Blacks in all aspects of business and sustaining those operations.  Today’s Black Press are prominent African American business people that communicate the views of the social, political and economic issues that commonly confronted them and their respective communities.  Race is the most potent force in American politics, and no one has navigated it and manipulated it for longer, and with greater stature.  His complicated history reveals one whose influence is perhaps further reaching and more implicative of our nation than any other since its beginnings.

No matter the notoriety, Jackson has helped Blacks fashion an economic movement and advancement on Wall Street, with covenants, franchises and distributorships.  Jackson honed his activist skills while attending North Carolina A&T where he became active in local civil rights protests against segregated libraries, theaters and restaurants.   In 1966, King headed the Chicago SCLC’s economic arm, Operation Breadbasket Operation. Under Jackson’, a key goal was to encourage massive boycotts by Black consumers as a means to pressure White-owned businesses to hire Blacks and to purchase goods and services from Black-owned firms. Operation Breadbasket held popular weekly workshops on Chicago’s South Side featuring political and economic leaders and religious services.

Influenced by the example of Philadelphia’s Rev. Leon Sullivan, Jackson utilized the bargaining power of African American church leaders and their congregations to foster “selective buying” (boycotts) to pressure White businesses to open up private sector jobs to Blacks.  The boycott movement is traditionally linked to the “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” protests, which based black people’s right to work on their status as consumers.  An aggressive Black newspaper during the period, the Chicago Whip published fiery editorials endorsing the campaign.

While many label him an “opportunist,” Jesse Jackson is a proven “tree shaker” and “jelly maker”.  Like him, or not, Jackson has created thousands of job opportunities for Blacks and helped make hundreds more millionaires.  Jackson reigns as the consummate Black advocate. His Rainbow PUSH Automotive Project works to achieve diversity and inclusion in the auto industry at all levels; from dealerships to suppliers to employees.

Chicago Crusader publisher Dorothy Leavell said Jackson has “carried MLK’s legacy well” Jackson has a net worth estimated at  $10 million, He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000.   In late 2017, it was  announced that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

William Reed is publisher of “Who’s Who in Black Corporate America” and available for projects via Busxchng@his.com

 

Mo's Bo's Logo

By Black Men In America.com Staff

Moziah “Mo” Bridges was just 9-years-old when he began creating and selling his own bow ties. Now at the tender age of 13 Mo and his business Mo’s Bows Memphis is now worth $200,000. Yes, a 13-year-old is making more than most of us see any given year. The young entrepreneur also became the youngest business owner to appear on ABC’s Shark Tank at the age of 11.

Mo's Bows and Daymond JohnMo and Mom

Shark Tank member Daymond John offered to be Bridges’ mentor for free.  With the help of his mother Tramica Morris (“Mo is the CEO of the company, but I’m the CEO of Mo,” she says), he’s sold about $200,000 of his handmade bow ties and other men’s fashion accessories. He has seven employees — including his mom and grandmother.

Bridges had the idea for Mo’s Bows when he was just 9 years old. His grandmother, a retired seamstress, taught him early on the importance of dressing sharp. He asked her to teach him how to sew, and soon he was making bow ties and selling them online and to several stores in the South.  Today his handmade bow ties can be found in Neiman Marcus and online at www.mosbowsmemphis.com.

Mo Bridges Store

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NEON Comparison Chart

 

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The 10 Wealthiest Black People In The World

By Natalie Dawson

Billionaires and millionaires aren’t always white or oil barons.  African Americans can also throw down when it comes to wealth.  To prove it, we have listed ten of the wealthiest black people in the world below listed by current estimated worth.

  1. Aliko Dangote – Never heard of him?  Most Americans haven’t.  He is a businessman based in Nigeria and head man for The Dangote Group, which was founded in 1977 as a small firm.  Since then, it has substantially grown and earned Dangote himself an estimated worth of $13.8 billion.
  2. Mike Adenuga – He runs Conoil Producing, the first Nigerian company to strike oil in significant quantities during the early 1990s.  He is also the owner of the second largest mobile company in the country.  A true success story, he made his first million at age 26 by selling lace and soft drinks and is now worth $4.3 billion.
  3. Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe – He is another African and another billionaire.  His company is called African Rainbow Minerals and deals in gold, platinum, and other precious metals.  From South Africa, he was born royalty and became the first black partner in a local law firm in 1994.  His estimated worth is $3.28 billion.
  4. Oprah Winfrey – Her own show and now her own network took this small town reporter’s dreams to places girls of her generation never thought they could go.  By investing in herself and her own show, Oprah was able to create a wealth of $2.7 billion.
  5. Michael Jackson – His estimated worth is sketchy.  Although he made hundreds of millions of dollars from album sales alone, Jackson had a notorious spending habit that was also in the hundreds of millions.  However, he did purchase the rights to many Beatles songs, which are estimated to be worth between $500 million and one billion.  After his death, sales of his own music also spiked into the hundreds of millions.
  6. Jim Ovia – His nickname is “the godfather of Nigerian banking.”  He founded the Zenith Banking Group in 1990, and it became one of the largest financial services provider on the continent.  He also founded a mobile company and is estimated to be worth $775 million.
  7. Robert Johnson – If not for the recession, he would be higher on the list with over one billion dollars in net worth.  However, the founder of the BET network still enjoys a net worth of $550 million.
  8. Michael Jordan – The “air man” is most known for being one of the best players in NBA history.  It also didn’t hurt that his brand of clothing and especially shoes are still a top seller.  Between the endorsements, investments, and more, he is worth $525 million.
  9. Tiger Woods – As with Robert Johnson, if it wasn’t for his divorce and lost proceeds from a scandal, he would be farther up the list.  However, with an annual salary of $85 million, golfing legend Tiger Woods is still worth $500 million and is the youngest person on the list.
  10. Bill Cosby – Proving that you can make money by telling a simple, family oriented story is the legendary Bill Cosby.  Critics believed his show wouldn’t make it past year one when the virtually unknown comedian debuted it in 1984.  Over 25 years later, he is worth $450 million and rising.

Natalie Dawson owns the site Masters Degree. She enjoys writing articles about everything in the education field.

Columbia, Maryland – August 10, 2011Noted personal finance expert and respected author Vernon Williams has published 425 Ways to Stretch your $$$$.  Since the average college graduate has accumulated more than $27,000 in loans, students will be particularly interested in Chapter 9 – 33 Ways to Get a Degree without Debt. The chapter is jam-packed with practical strategies for reducing the cost of tuition and finding and winning scholarships and grants.

Here’s what one parent had to say about 425 Ways to Stretch your $$$$: “As a single mom, one of my biggest concerns was how I was going to pay for my son’s education. Thanks to 425 Ways to Stretch your $$$$, I was not only able to lower the cost of college, but I was able to save money by finding college scholarships and grants for college. I also got some ideas on how to save money on everyday household expenses, as well.” -Sharon Maloney

But that’s not all. Vernon has broken the book into sections so students save almost 40 percent by only downloading the chapters in which they are interested.

For more information about 425 Ways to Stretch your $$$$$, please click www.howtocutyourexpenses.com.

About the author

Vernon Williams has lived his passion of helping consumers achieve financial success for over 20 years. He has taught hundreds of workshops on goal setting, setting up and managing a budget while eliminating unnecessary expenses. He has discussed money-saving tips on several media outlets including National Public Radio Station WEAA and Comcast’s Money Matters Today program.

In addition to 425 Ways to Stretch Your $$$$, Vernon is the author of 3 Rules that Guarantee Financial Success.

Vernon has a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and he is a sought after speaker by both public and private sector organizations.

Vernon is a member of the American Council on Consumer Interests and the Better Business Bureau.

Visit Vernon at www.howtocutyourexpenses.com.

1 Comment

  1. 2 questions – Where are active comprehensive black NonProfit investors? Who can actionably assist in the acquisition and transport/import of a 25yr old vehicle to the US from abroad?

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