Assembling a Winning Team

In May of 2014 I had the distinct honor of being the convocation speaker at the University of Illinois College of Communication Graduation. The video of that event has horrible audio. It’s almost as if my Mom was in the front row, taking the video with her flip phone because, well, my Mom was in the front row taking this video with her flip phone.

Thanks to her foresight, the moment was appropriately captured. However, in today’s content landscape there’s very little tolerance for poor audio and visual quality. So I took the time to transcribe it. In doing so, I learned that “really” is my filler word. I took the liberty of removing those from the transcript.

The years have flown by, but I remain proud that when given the opportunity to choose words to inspire others, I quoted the Bible, my Mom and Beyonce.

Here’s the transcript. Enjoy!

Off camera: “Thank you. There are no words that can adequately express how humbled and honored I am to be standing in front of you today. I want to extend a hearty congratulations to the class of two thousand and fourteen. And THANKS to the droves of parents, spouses, family, friends and even children of the graduates who are here today. Let’s give a round of applause for your families.”

*fixes microphone*

“I said thank you. Did you guys hear that?”  

“When Barbara Hall, Professor Caughlin and the powers that be in the Department of Communication said ‘We’re gonna stall the graduates for 10 more minutes. Who can we get to do that?’ somehow my name came to the top of that list. So I’m going to try to say something meaningful and I’m going to try to do it really fast. Is that ok?

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I had the pleasure of meeting a few of you today before graduation, but I don’t know all of you. If you’ll allow me, I’d like to ask you some questions, on this, your graduation day, to find out a little bit more about you and how you’ve prepared for your future.

The first question I have for you is, have you assembled a winning team?

When I think about my team, who it is, who’s in it, who’s on it, it’ll give you some insight into how you might set your team up.

Just for the purposes of illustration, simply for that, I’m going to say I’m the Michael Jordan of public relations. 

· My point guards, my Steve Kerrs are professors like Bob Husband and David Tewksbury who really helped to set up my shots, and helped me get ready for my professional goals.

· My coaches, my Phil Jacksons are women like Cheryl Sills and Wynona Redmond who help me lay out the path to success and get me back on course when I’m off – it happens quite a lot.  

· My center, my Luc Longley - everybody staying with me? – My center is my Pastor, the Rev. Glenn Grayson, who not only teaches from the pulpit, but actually invites me into his home for family dinner after church every Sunday in Pittsburgh, where I now live.   

· Standing at Power Forward, my Dennis Rodmans are my sponsors, people who are in rooms that I’m not privy to, who take up for me on my path [like Glenn Eden and Jody Menaker]. They really shake things up and make sure that they rebound all of the shots that I don’t make, which again – is quite a lot.

· And unlike most teams, I don’t have a salary cap and so my bench is made up of superstars – they are my closest and trusted girlfriends. Don’t listen to VH1 – Women get along! We support each other and when I’m down, my girlfriends, one of which is in the audience today, help to keep me up, so that I can get back in the game.

· Now I know you’re wondering, Tiasha, who is your Scottie Pippen. Who’s your number 33, your right hand man. Who’s the 33 to your 23? Of course, it’s my mom.  

My mom always encouraged me to do what filled my spirit, to do what made me happy. Instead of doing what would fill my pockets. My mom was a first generation college student herself, who went to college against my grandfather’s wishes. And her rebellious spirit lives in me when I’m in boardrooms, or encouraging my clients to go against the grain with their marketing. Her fire, her passion, is in me when I work with my  teams to create cutting-edge strategies that drive business results.

When it comes to MY team, my mother has ALSO been my biggest cheerleader… except for the time I wanted to be a cheerleader. My Mom, who is ruthlessly realistic, let me know, how clumsy and uncoordinated I was and that I would not make the team.    

Not to worry, I still made the team.

I went on to cheer for the Irving Tigers, and, as a goal of mine, the Whitney Young Dolphins. It brings me to my next question when thinking about your goals:   

2. What are YOUR goals and who or what will you allow to get in the way of you meeting those goals?

Sorry, Mom.

A quick Google search as well as my bio would reveal that I’ve worked on brands like the “got milk?” campaign,  DiGiorno Pizza, Lunchables and the Illinois and Pennsylvania Lotteries.    

What it didn’t tell you is that there are a series of obstacles that should gotten in the way of me being a professional communicator. First up, I have a uniquely spelled name. I’ll just leave that there. The next thing is inexplicable hearing loss. I’m losing my hearing. The doctors don’t know what it is. It’s just annoying enough that people don’t go to the movies with me or sit in boardrooms with me because I just go “what? What did they say? Say that again.” The words haven’t made it to that part of my brain. It’s not that bad. It’s just irritating. The next thing is that I have a speech impediment. I am actually giving a speech to a group of 1600 people and I can’t even pronounce the letter s.

Outside of my physical challenges, I chose to work in a field that hasn’t quite caught up to the country with hiring practices. Among marketers in the United States, only 4% of marketers have ethnically diverse backgrounds – like me.

Despite my fancy name, and my inability to hear and speak well and the lack of ethnic diversity in my field – none of those things were important to me when I decided what I wanted to do, or what my goal was going to be. 

Another thing is that I always thought of goals, not so much obstacles… and that’s something that I want to encourage you guys to do to be successful, which brings me to another question that I have for you.   

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When you reach a point where you feel successful, how will you give back?

I hope that the answers to those questions: are generously and often. I’m standing here on the shoulders of giants. And I really owe it to them to give back AS MUCH, if not more, than has been given to me.  

So, whether it’s spending my weeknights with the girls that I mentor [at Gwen’s Girls in Pittsburgh], or my weekends getting hospital rooms ready for people seeking medical care [at Family House in Pittsburgh], it’s important for me to give back, all the time. I hope that you’ll do the same. I also take calls from students who are aspiring PR pros.

Another thing that’s important, as a soon-to-be member of this alumni network - the most powerful network in the country – one of the top 10. I know you’ll take advantage of the gifts I have to offer and be generous in giving your own.  

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As I come to a close, the final question I have for you is can you let go of the fear of just being yourself?   

Let me explain that further. As a student of communication, you know that personality traits, similar to IQ, are stable over a lifetime. Your personality traits, just like IQ, are stable over a lifetime. Your personality – who you are – has always been the same. I’m not suggesting you can’t learn from your experiences, or find out what your flaws are or try to work on those. I’m just saying that you are who you are.  

I really find that remarkable.

As a Christian, I’ll paraphrase a scripture that says before you were in the womb, I knew you. As a student of pop culture I can just say: I woke up like this. I did. I woke up like this.

And while I won’t claim to be flawless like Mrs. Carter, I can NOW recognize that the things that make me different don’t need to be fixed, molded, or pushed to the side or shoved under a rug.  

I don’t need to fit a prototype to be successful. In fact, quite the opposite is true. And I want to leave that with you.

So, as you embark on your next steps, wherever they may be, you’ll hear so much advice. Listen, soak all of that up, but when you get to a place – your career, your location,  if your career, your influences, your location, your relationships – At the end of the day, if what you’re doing does not feed you, you must leave and go where you are inspired.

You must find an organization or CREATE an organization that adds to who you are and doesn’t take away from it.  

And so with that. I’ll say again, congratulations, to the class of twenty fourteen. I really look forward to hearing about all that you’ve accomplished and your success stories. May God bless each and every one of you.

Thank you!