Jerome Love, CEO of the Texas Black Expo that will be held June 19 -22 in Houston. The entertainers that will be participating this year include Tom Joyner, Biz Markie, Kid Capri, Tank, MC Lyte, Morris Day and the Time and amny more.
Please describe your role as CEO and talk about your leadership style.
A successful CEO is not just a businessperson, but someone with an entrepreneurial spirit. That means taking proactive, innovative steps to evolve and grow their company. Good CEOs know how to keep a company or organization steady, and obviously oversee the day-to-day operations, but great CEOs have the vision and drive to take that enterprise to the next level, and foresee growth and development year after year. That’s what I strive to accomplish, and how I like to lead.
What is the mission of your organization?
Texas Black Expo is a nonprofit organization with a mission to stimulate growth and development within urban communities by strengthening businesses, inspiring youth and building better lives. When you empower people to accomplish great things, everyone around them benefits, and the growth and development multiplies exponentially.
How do you approach business challenges?
Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and grow, both personally and professionally. If you approach a challenge with the confidence that you can make a difference, and with the insight and foresight to see the so-called light at the end of the tunnel, you can succeed. Having vision is vital, and can lead to the root goal of a business, which is to increase its value and worth.
How do you evaluate talent you are hiring and what are the skills that you are looking for in this marketplace?
The ‘hard skills’ like education, work experience and technical abilities will always be valuable, but anyone can acquire those. What sets people apart in today’s marketplace, and what I look for when evaluating talent, are people who are creative, self-motivated and positive thinkers. When someone has that “can-do” attitude and takes initiative without being told to do so, they are more likely to work beyond their basic job descriptions, and that’s a key driver to a business’ success. Ultimately, you want people with complementary personalities. Everyone is different, and you don’t want a workplace where everyone is the same, but people have to mesh and be able to collaborate for the benefit of the greater good.
What are the top three benefits to being a member of your organization?
In today’s workplace, networking and connecting with other like-minded businesses and individuals is critical to success. Organizations such as this also provide valuable exposure, and the opportunity to increase brand awareness. It also provides a great opportunity to give back to the community, and share your successes and talents so that others can benefit. And most importantly, we empower each other. While some people might be competitive on a business level, we all want the same thing, and that’s to experience success and create better communities.
How do you utilize technology to give yourself business advantages? What technological advances have you used to communicate with your membership?
I think it’s easy for people to think that they can use social media instead of other branding, messaging and communication methods and strategies. But what I’ve learned is that it works best when you use it in collaboration with those other efforts. Social media isn’t going to solve all of the world’s problems, but it is another tool in our belt to improve as business owners, entrepreneurs or philanthropists.
What are the two key factors for business success?
Behind every successful business are owners and employees who have the drive and motivation to see it through, both in prosperous times and when faced with adversity. Obviously, surrounding yourself with other talented and driven people will help overcome adversity, but it will also foster an environment that exudes success and passion. As Henry Ford said, “Always be smart enough to hire people brighter than yourself.”
If you were giving a speech about skill sets needed in the future to remain relevant to 500 workers at a retraining seminar, what would the title of your speech be and why?
First and foremost, be the best that you can be. That would probably be the title. If you give it your best, odds are, you’ll succeed, or at least you’ll figure out what you can and can’t succeed at. I think the most important thing in order to remain relevant is to never stop learning. The business world evolves at a quicker and quicker pace, and if your skills stay stagnant, you’ll become irrelevant. By constantly learning, you’ll be prepared for that change.
Name your three favorite business books for insight and inspiration.
- Get Up, Get Out, & Get Something by Jerome Love (my first published book)
- The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy
- Permission Marketing by Seth Godin
For more information about the expo, visit www.texasblackexpo.com
