Howard University’s “2nd Freshman Orientation” for Alumna Phylicia Rashad?

“ . . . let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, . . .” James 1:19

Too often, we must eat our own words because we spoke before we listened.?

But how we eat them can become a teachable moment for those we seek to educate.?

Such is the teachable moment offered by Howard alumna and its new Chadwick Boseman College of Fine Arts Dean, former “Cosby Show” co-star Phylicia Rashad.

Even before she teaches her first class, Rashad is showing by her personal example that immediate corrective actions can outdistance perhaps one’s initial words.

When on June 30, Bill Cosby was released early from prison and his sexual assault conviction, Rashad tweeted immediately, “FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected!”?

When Howard declared her initial tweet “lacked sensitivity,” Rashad then about-faced and re-Tweeted.

Leading by Example. Rashad’s re-Tweet followed my TOP formula developed to correct, manage missteps: Target the problem, Own it, and then Proceed with corrective actions - shared in my permanently-free eBook, 7 Steps to Manage Ego Problems: The How-to Guide for “Somebody Else,” www.timallston.com.?

For example, Rashad:

• Targeted and Owned the problem: "This week, I tweeted a statement that caused so much hurt in so many people - both broadly and inside the Howard community, . . . I offer my most sincere apology.” And then
• Proceeded with corrective actions - “I have since removed that upsetting tweet. . . . I intend to earn your trust and your forgiveness."?

Rashad then offered that she plans soon to "to engage in active listening and participate in trainings to not only reinforce University protocol and conduct, but also to learn how I can become a stronger ally to sexual assault survivors and everyone who has suffered at the hands of an abuser," https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/02/us/phylicia-rashad-howard-letter/index.html.?

While some are calling for Dean Rashad’s resignation, I believe that she instead can serve us even better as an example of how to repair quickly and manage correctly.

Now let’s see if her corrective actions speak louder than her initial words!

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tim allston is the two-time Amazon best-selling author of U.S. Politics The Rise of Silver-Mettle Leaders (now on Amazon), and the author-narrator of The U.S. Coronavirus Crisis and the Rise of the “Silver-Mettle” Leaders audiobook, with a free sample chapter, when you click on https://bit.ly/3xiZhP9.