Missing the Super Bowl May Have Cost You a Promotion...

The Super Bowl is a popular American entertainment event watched by millions. Those millions probably include your colleagues, clients and your boss. Catching the Super Bowl (or at the very least knowing who is playing and who wins) is important for your corporate career. Those seemingly trivial social interactions about the big game are the stepping stones to a promotion. Often, young Black Corporates miss opportunities to engage colleagues and clients on a personal level by missing out on popular cultural events.

Here are few other popular events to put on your calendar:

Grammys, February 15
Check the blogs or gossip sites for winners.

Academy Awards, February 28
These awards are not by us nor for us. I get it. However, your co-workers will likely be in awe of the gowns and tearjerking reminders of when American was "great." No, this is not the time to bring up the lack of racial diversity in the office. Mention so and so's dress and whoever won best picture.

March Vacation, Mid-March
Those wealthy private schools your co-workers send their kids to have something called "March Vacation." They will use their kids being out of school as an excuse to take a vacation. Your workload will double. Be prepared to step up and cover. Ask them how the trip was when they get back.

NCAA Championships, April 4
You'll hear a lot about the Final Four. Just catch the championship and know where the schools are located. Bonus points if you join the office pool.

Don't Quit Your Job (Yet)

Entrepreneurship and alternative, non-corporate careers have become the hot new trend among young professionals. Articles abound featuring 20- and 30-somethings quitting their jobs and starting companies or going to work for a friend's startup. Not that there aren't exceptions to what I'm about to say, but it needs to be said: The path to Black success is different from White success and this affects the way you should think about your career and quitting.

Let's start with a simple question: Do your clients or customers at your Corporate job look like you?

Mine don't.

Around the Web: What you missed in Dame Dash's Breakfast Club Interview

Back in March, Dame Dash did an interview on The Breakfast Club. I don't follow the show or Mr. Dash hence this delayed post, but a friend recently brought the interview to my attention. I've reached a place in my career where entrepreneurial thoughts monopolize my days in the office and this interview gave me a lot more to think about. It was interesting. Even if the underlying messages of "be your own boss" and "invest in yourself" are worn out, the delivery and examples of practical applications make the interview worth the watch. Warning: The interview is long, combative and offensive to pretty much every category of person. It is full of many ideas to which I do not subscribe. Watch at your own risk.

Here's what I found when I stepped back to think about Dame Dash's statements:

Diversify your Network. 

Mr. Dash appears on the show with two individuals with whom he has both personal and business relationships with. These men are not in suits, they don't have fancy titles...these are neighborhood dudes from Harlem that challenge him, encourage him and support him. CEO's don't become successful and remain successful by only spending time with other CEO's. One of the biggest mistakes new Corporates (especially new Black Corporates) make is assuming that people who are not in Corporate America don't have anything to teach you or offer you to succeed in Corporate America. Grandma may not have had the opportunities to go to school and succeed in the business world because of a whole host of 'isms, but she probably knows how to hustle in a way your roommate at WhoGivesA University does not.

Unwritten Rules

Great web series about being a Black Corporate