Michael D. Brown - Fresh Passion: Get a Brand or Die a Generic

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Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press
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Copyright 2012 Michael D. Brown

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Ebook ISBN: 978-1-60832-412-5

Ebook Edition

This Fresh book is dedicated to my mother, my ten brothers and sisters, and the hundreds of world-class professionals I have had the highest privilege of leading.

THANK YOU!

I have literally been building a brand geared toward achieving personal and professional success for almost my entire life. It all started in fourth grade back in Holmes County, Mississippi, when I took a job working as a handyman and housecleaner for a wealthy lady living on the right side of the tracks, who I will call Norma.

The task of providing customer service to Norma was by no means an easy one. Norma felt that her social position entitled her to be crotchety and demanding, as well as physically violent if her every whim was not fulfilled. I have to admit that at times she could be very accommodating, but this accommodating demeanor was usually part of some elaborate mind game she would play to keep me from getting too comfortable. And the harder I worked, the more she demanded. Every day I walked on eggshells.

The notion of walking on eggshells is the perfect lead-in to a story that I think exemplifies the challenges and obstacles posed by working for Norma. I was cooking breakfast one Saturday morningby this point I was tall enough to reach the stove, so it wasnt a problem. Normally, she wanted her eggs hard, but I never knew exactly how hard hard was supposed to be. It seemed like I never got it right. But on this particular Saturday, I thought I had it down pat. Imagine my surprise when she screamed, You just dont get it! You should know by now!

I carefully explained that the eggs were cooked the same way they had been the previous weekend, when she appeared to like them. Norma took this as license to raise her hand and shove me in the chest. Dont talk back to me like that, she said. Prior to this incident, I had never talked back to her. And I wasnt even trying to talk back so much as I was merely attempting to understand why she was upset with the eggs when she had liked them the week before. After she pushed me, I walked away.

The next weekend, she led me to believe things were fine again. She was being accommodating, but I never knew how she would react to any given situation. And I dont think I ever did get the eggs right!

In a classic example of Normas mind games, after the egg incident she eased up on her criticism of my cooking skills, but then she moved on to criticizing how I cleaned the glass and mirrors in her house. I always used too much or too little glass cleaner, and she never stopped finding something new to keep me on edge.

Norma knew I was a perfectionist who always sought to exceed expectations, and I think she thought, Ill always tell him hes not doing it right, that way hell work harder. To make matters worse, when I didnt respond the first time she shoved me, it became a license for her to push me around.

This unpleasant situation offered me two choices: Stick it out or leave. As one of ten siblings being raised by my widowed mother, living in the fourth-poorest county in the country, leaving did not appear to be a viable option. Despite the many hardships, I enjoyed and needed this jobs financial compensation. So I grinned and bore it for two whole years, swallowing all the pride a nine-year-old boy could have.

Many of you are probably shaking your head with a sad, wistful look on your face, feeling sorry for that poor little boy stuck between an awful boss and extreme poverty in rural Mississippi many years ago. Save your pityinstead you can celebrate that I experienced this unfortunate incident so early in life. Working for Norma is probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. How could that be possible? Glad you asked.

First, striving to please an impossible taskmaster taught me that to succeed in life, you must work your very hardest, stay focused on delivering superior results that exceed expectation, and always give 120 percent, even when deep down you know you will still be criticized. Ultimately, a good job speaks for itself, and if you consistently deliver superior results, your boss, critics, and other observers will be left with no choice but to recognize you as someone who can deliver, and you will become known as someone who produces superior results regardless of the circumstances. As painful as working for Norma often was, the experience toughened me and served as the foundation of my personal Michael D. Brown brand; a brand built on consistently delivering top-notch results, continually looking for ways to exceed expectations, always offering a fresh experience, and satisfying even the most demanding customers, bosses, and clients, all with a professional and pleasant personal demeanor.

Developing this brand was not an easy process or a quick one. Norma was the first unfair boss I worked for, but she was hardly the last. Later in my professional career, I found myself flipping burgers at a popular fast-food joint while I was getting my undergraduate degree in management at Jackson State University. Here I learned a very different lesson. I originally applied to fill an advertised cashier opening, but the general manager told me they really needed someone to work the grill. Even though I had previous cashier experience and great references, and IwascurrentlystudyingmanagementatJacksonStateUniversity, I still wasnt considered a viable candidate for the cashier position. So the managers hid me back in the kitchen.

Instead of complaining about this grueling and greasy job, I started planning my escape route. I wound up driving immense results through and with people, cutting wait time at the drive-through window from two minutes and thirty seconds to one minute and twenty seconds. It was teamwork Michael D. Brown style, and the employees loved it. Yet despite my results and the love the whole staff had for me, it was many months before I finally got promoted to cashier.

Eventually, the general manager admitted to me that the regional manager had told him that he didnt want to see black people as cashiers at the front counter waiting on customers because the restaurant was located in an affluent area, and he didnt see having black people working at the front counter as being good for business.

Since then, I have always tried to overcompensate by delivering superior results and always exceeding expectations due to both obvious and camouflaged racism. As a result of this experience and others like it, I couldnt escape the thought that I had to do much better than anyone else by keeping my skills fresh and being able to deliver competitive results. My intense focus on the front line, which generated results and output that beat expectations, helped me climb the corporate ladder because no one in the organizations, firms, or corporations I worked for could deny the results. I kept the attention off me personally (and my skin color) by delivering better than anyone else and building a professional cushion for myself.