djfourmoney wrote:
This is what happens when your White.
When you're Black, how many times do they still talk about Micheal Vick and Dog Fighting which he was never directly involved with?
I rest my case.
DF,
meet my friend Clint Morgan.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/clintonmorgan
As black as the ace of spades.
I hired him to come to Australia in late 99. When I met up with him in a hotel in Melbourne for the first time I exclaimed
"Hey mate, you are black"
He took offense as that is considered "racist" in the USA.
I said to him "Clint. I am not racist and you will barely find a racist guy in Australia, truly, we do not care about the skin colour of people here for the most part. The fact is you will be the ONLY black man at your level in your profession IN THE COUNTRY. Every single man you meet is going to point out to you that you are black because you are, ok?"
He settled a bit and found that, yes, virtually everyone commented on him being black. But being black and such a senior consultant made him "exotic" and he was a real lady killer in Australia. He did very well for himself from 2000 to about 2005 when he left Australia.
He was also GREAT at his job and GREAT at dealing with clients. He was SO GOOD that he eventually wound up the signatory of ALL Business Intelligence projects for a man named Kerry Packer who was the richest man in the country at the time. The letter even had packers signature on it he told me.
He called me and told me "I have died and gone to consultant heaven. I had no chance of ever landing a job like this in the US. Thank you for giving me the chance. Thank you for believing in me."
This man EARNED his way every step of the way. He might not have been as brilliant as some but I NEVER managed a man who was willing to work harder, work longer, as well as do the softer skills thinks with clients.
When I was leaving Australia and did not have a place to stay for a couple of weeks he put me in HIS OWN BED and slept on the couch. He was so thankful for the opportunity he had WON through me it was his little thank you to do that.
And I do mean WON. I scoured our firm for a guy to come to Australia as a telco consultant as I was losing my best guy returning to the US. Clint WON that position fair and square. When I interviewed him and talked to his references NO ONE mentioned he was black. NO ONE.
THAT is what can happen when you are BLACK, DF.
Feel free to link with him and ask him if what I say is true.
Clint is one of the finest men I have ever met. He is one of my closest mates. He is a man of awesome character. If I was even in a trench in a war? He is one of the few men I would want next to me.
And yeah, he's black as the ace of spades. Just take a look at that photo dude!
PS..this is the reference I put on linked in for him.
IT Project Manager - Consultant
ASCENTIAL SOFTWARE (ALL ACQUISITIONS SINCE PRISM SOLUTIONS INC.) Westborough, MA
“In 1999 I became the Professional Services Manager in Ardent in Australia. My #1 Telco guy informed me he needed to relocate back to the US. So I started a search of Ardent to find a suitable replacement on a two year assignment. The successful candidate was Clint Morgan.
As it happened we closed a deal at a Media Company rather than a telco. Circumstances ensued that meant Clint and I worked shoulder to shoulder for more than three months on this deal. I mean days, nights and weekends.
Clint is the COMPLETE professional. The quality of which is very, very rare. His handling of this client was so good that when all consultants were retrenched in the Informix take over the client was delighted to offer Clint a job. Clint was elevated to the role of being responsible for all BI across the group. As he said to me "I think I died and went to consultant heaven".
He went to the client for a three month contract with maybe a month production run in and stayed for five years. This was a VERY tough client. One of the best run companies in Australia and was so because of their no nonsense and no compromise attitude. Clint was very highly regarded by senior management at the client. Under Clints guiding hand as to how the data warehouse was used this client doubled gross profit inside two years in a mature and very competitive industry. The owner of the group cited the company as "the jewel in the corporate crown". When the company was eventually sold off it rated as one of the top 10 best managed companies in its industry in the world.
On the personal side Clint became a close friend. When I was relocating to Europe and was homeless for a few weeks because I stayed on longer than expected Clint would not hear of me living in a hotel. He put me up at his place in style. Of all the people I knew he was the first to make that offer. This is what a true friend does. He does not wait to be asked.
Anyone who has Clint working for them is lucky. I can recommend him very highly for any work in the BI area. And he will also be a very positive personal influence in any team.� February 29, 2012
YOU Peter Nolan, Professional Services Manager, Ardent
managed Clinton at ASCENTIAL SOFTWARE (ALL ACQUISITIONS SINCE PRISM SOLUTIONS INC.) Westborough, MA