A Billion Dollar Lesson
"Whatever is inside you, and I do mean whatever, at some point in time, for some reason, and in some way, will come out."
A net worth of 2.3 billion dollars can buy courtside seats and more but they cannot cover up what's truly inside of a person. Mark Stevens, the now-infamous Golden State Warriors investor / executive team member could have benefited from doing some serious internal work on his character before Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The $500,000 fine he received for shoving and cursing at Toronto Raptor's guard Kyle Lowry is nothing. Being banned from going to any more Warriors games this year or next probably will hurt him more. Giving a black eye to a golden organization and no doubt severely straining important relationships within the organization will be difficult. The possibility (perhaps eventuality) of being forced to divest his shares in the organization would be very painful. Losing his reputation on a national stage — well, no amount of money can buy that back. Thankfully, and to Lowry's credit, he didn't retaliate in kind.
The truth is that every one of us is one pressure-packed moment away from our own demise if we don't deal with what's deep inside our souls. In Mr. Stevens case, his aggressive nature came out. His disdain for the Toronto Raptors and their representative came out. And some might conclude that his disrespect for black people came out. Who knows truly what was inside Mark Stevens but one thing is for sure and that is that what came wasn't pretty. The fallout from his action is far reaching for both his own reputation and that of the organization he represents. The optics of a middle-aged white billionaire owner pushing a black basketball player are horrible for a league that is composed of 75 percent black players.
That's when he lost it. What was inside of him came out. He screamed at me and said, "Why in the blankety blank blank don't you go back to Puerto Rico and steal hubcaps?"
A few years ago I was invited to do a speech for a large group of owners in the construction industry. A few days before the event, the Executive Director of the organization asked me if I played golf to which I replied that I did. He asked me if I were any good and I told him not Chi Chi Rodríguez good but I had a 12 handicap at the time so I was a pretty decent amateur player. So, he said, we're having a scramble the day before the event and I would like you to come and you can pair up with me. I said great, made the arrangements and arrived in time to play. The course was near Baltimore. It was both a beautiful place and a beautiful day, that is until what was inside of him came out in a way that in today's social media world would have cost him both his job and reputation. Oh, I forgot to tell you a few thousand dollars were on the line and this man wanted to win.
I birdied the first hole. He was happy. I was happy. I had par on the second hole. Again, all was well in the world. On the third hole, I had a bogey and as we were walking off the green he asked me, "you good?" I said, "of course, just enjoying walking on the grass." But I noted in his voice just a bit of concern and that concerned me. Well, on the fourth hole I had a double bogey and as we walked off the hole he made a sideways comment to me and said, "Maybe you're not as good as you said." Well, now I was feeling some pressure. The fifth hole was a nightmare. My tee shot went out into the woods. My second shot was shanked and I was literally laying five on a par four and still in the fairway. As God is my witness, this person is standing off to my left about 10 feet or so and I hit my fifth shot. It went up into the air, veered off to the right, came down, hit the cement cart path and bounced out in the woods. That's when he lost it. What was inside of him came out. He screamed at me and said, "Why in the blankety blank blank don't you go back to Puerto Rico and steal hubcaps?"
He was fortunate, I could have destroyed his career. It was just the two of us out there. I could have written him up, or even called him out publicly in my speech the next day, but I didn't. I prefer to cuddle people in, rather than call them out. My goal is to build people, not bury them. I simply looked at my golf partner and said, "Are you coming to my speech tomorrow?" He said yes, and I said, "that's probably a good thing." Of course, he knew he stepped in it. He knew he was deeply offensive. But it was too late. The damage to the relationship had been done.
Michael Richards (better known as Kramer on Seinfeld) lost it under pressure and screamed vulgarities at some African-American hecklers. And incredibly some people in the audience laughed. He then went on to use the n-word on multiple occasions. You can even hear one woman in the audience gasp out, "Oh my God." Yes, oh my God. I was going to embed the video within this article but it is pretty raw. It is here if you would like to view the original TMZ video. All the apologies in the world and even a special appearance by Jerry Seinfeld himself on the David Letterman show along with Mr. Richards have not fully restored his reputation.
In a recent Cultural Mastery study, 50 multi-ethnic male and female leaders, went through a comprehensive cultural health and skill assessment and scored 6.09 on a 10 point scale. This is a very basic cultural skill level. These assessments are anonymous to ensure honesty. They are quite revealing as they put a mirror on what's truly inside of us. Another group of 53 female leaders from around the country recently scored 5.44 when assessed and this is considered novice skill. A college President recently scored 4 on this assessment. Frankly, they are at risk. If under pressure, or tired, or drinking, or in some sort of situation that triggers their deeper inner realities, they are at risk of saying or doing something that could effectively derail their own careers or severely damage their organizational brand. Every last one of us is one misstep away doing serious damage to ourselves — and others.
The risk is simply too high to not take this seriously. There is a way to transform what is inside of us. In order to do so, one must transform both their cultural mindset and skill set. Our mindset is how we view others. It addresses things like bias, stereotypes, and prejudice. Our skill set is how we treat others. It addresses how we can most effectively connect, create and collaborate with people different from ourselves. Mark Stevens needed a transformation of both mindset and skill set. He still needs it but at this point, it won't get him his money back, his seats back, or most likely, his reputation back. It's a sad story but one that unfortunately is repeated in one way or another on a daily basis. We can, however, avoid it. May I ask you to take this seriously? Will you consider going through a meaningful process of transformation of your cultural mindset and skill set? Your own financial well-being, influence, and reputation may just depend on you doing so.
Ricardo González is the author of The 6 Stages of Cultural Mastery, host of the popular C6 Culture Cast, and founder and CEO of Bilingual America. If you would like to learn more about Cultural Mastery training for yourself or your organization, we invite you to review this page. You can connect with Ricardo directly here on LinkedIN or by going to his bio page at CulturalMastery.com/Ricardo