Barry Williams, legendary corporate board exec, on excellence in life & business

In this episode, Ian and Nique are joined by Barry Lawson Williams to discuss the importance of building black representation on corporate boards across the United States. When it comes to corporate America, Barry’s life exemplifies the vision, character, and insight worthy of a career business executive who has served on 14 public company boards. A few years ago, Barry conducted a study with 50 top black executives in the United States and found five common themes with timely insights into how we can pave the way for a new generation of black corporate leaders. Consistent with his own experience, all of the directors Barry interviewed shared that they had gained their prominent positions through a rich network of relationships — highlighting the need for current leaders to leverage their social capital to recruit and place more black men and women in positions of corporate leadership.

Barry also shares the unique challenges he faced as a black student at Harvard in the 1960s — and the power he experienced by embracing his race in the predominately white arena of Harvard. Watch the full episode to discover the advice Barry has for “Darryl” in 2020, and to learn why Barry has adopted the habit of writing a letter to his children each year.

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