Trailblazers

For today’s aspiring leaders, lessons in leadership from legendary Black CEOs

Beginning in the late 1990s, a handful of executives rose to become some of the first Black CEOs ever to lead Fortune 500 powerhouses: Ken Chenault at American Express, Dick Parsons at Time Warner, John Thompson at Symantec, Ursula Burns at Xerox, and Frank Raines at Fannie Mae.

In Trailblazers, organizational advisor and journalist Roger O. Crockett recounts the inspiring stories of these titans and relates their hard-won lessons for achieving greatness amid the stunning lack of racial equity that still plagues us today. These trailblazers share an extra dose of resolve and grit, the key to their success despite the difficulties they tackled as Black leaders—what Crockett calls the “alpha-plus” mentality. Trailblazers also homes in on a specific quality that each wielded on their path to the top—from a belief in the power of authentic identity, to a commitment to compromise or a performance mindset—and offers readers guidance on how to cultivate these qualities in themselves.

The members of this group have enlightening perspectives on what it takes for not just Black leaders but any leaders to make it today. Their voices are needed now more than ever.