The 5% Club

I’m part of the good old boy’s club. Yes me, the black guy, is now part of the club. I may not be in the inner sanctum like some, but the doorman lets me pass.

For those of you who aren’t, let me tell you a little secret.

It’s SO MUCH EASIER to succeed when you’re in the club.

In my last job I negotiated some great programs and pricing for our company. Saved us a lot of money. Built some great strategies. Created models that are yielding real benefits for them even as I’ve moved on. I got promoted. They got huge financial gains. I didn’t succeed because I’m the best negotiator in the world. I didn’t succeed because I tell the best story in the world. I didn’t succeed because I’m the most skilled business person in the world. I succeeded because people knew me from the past few jobs and I’ve earned credibility. They trusted that I’d do what I said and that I’d honor my commitments. They saw me as part of the club.

I had a recent meeting. Someone I knew from the past was happy to see me. Pulled me aside. Did some small talk about my career and my new role. The small talk turned into discussions about some projects they’re working on and how me and my current company could help make that work. Now that I’m there he wants to make sure we’re a big part of it. More business opportunities that happen not because of some great job I did but because of who I know.

Not because of who I am. Not because of what I can do. Because of who I know.

I think about that a lot when I see people get a chance to succeed and even more when I see others who don’t.

I was at a pretty big industry event not that long ago. We were training new employees. This is the next generation we hear so much about. They’re young. They’re vibrant. They’re progressive. They’re multi-cultural. Our group was 92 strong. As I always do, I broke down the demographics of the audience.

Using the US Census and the National Center for Education Statistics, we can get some pretty good data on the people around us. And I can use that data to build a pretty good sample of what a “qualified” potential new employee looks like.

Actual Attendee Demo vs “Qualified” Population

The chart above assumes that a qualified potential new employee is 25–29 years old and has a 4-year degree. We absolutely need to have the conversation about whether that degree marks qualification and what people want to do after college, but for purposes of this exercise I used that mark.

So, we’re left with:

· 3 fewer Asian men than we could

· 4 fewer Asian women than we could

· 3 fewer Black men than we could

· 4 fewer Black women than we could

· 2 fewer Latinx men than we could

· 5 fewer Latinx women than we could

· 23 fewer White women than we could

· 44 more White men than we could

Or to put it another way, there are 44 white men taking spots that, based solely on qualifications for a new job like this, could have been filled by many other people.

We’re left with three possibilities.

1. White men, at least in this group, are especially qualified and/or much better at interviews and resume building than the other pool of candidates

2. People who aren’t white men didn’t know about these jobs to apply and/or interview

3. Everyone isn’t getting the same opportunity

The answer, obviously, is #3.

How do I know that? Because I’m part of the old boy’s club. And being part of the old boy’s club means saying the right thing. It means knowing the right answers to the questions. It means not just going to a 4-year school, but the right 4-year school. It means using the buzzwords that sound topical. It means making the people in charge comfortable. The same person who gets pulled aside for the next big business opportunity is the same one who gets to tell his nephew or his cousin or his brother about the next job opportunity. It’s the same one who gets to massage a resume or write a letter of recommendation. It’s the same one who gets to teach the buzzwords that sound topical or the right answers to the questions.

I’m not saying that white men don’t deserve opportunities. And I don’t know enough to say that there are 44 white men in that group who don’t deserve what they have. I don’t know enough to say that. But I do know enough to say that in a completely fair model that mix looks a lot closer to the blue bars above than the orange.

I’m not saying the people in the boy’s club don’t deserve a chance. I’m saying we need to give some chances to everybody else.