Excellence Exemplified: Leadership Lessons From the Life of Clifton Wharton Jr., Pioneering Black CEO

Story by Bradley Akubuiro
It’s time we properly celebrate the life and impact of this true Black pioneer.
A multicategory trailblazer, Clifton Wharton Jr. taught people never to accept anyone else’s limits for our achievement.
The first Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company was also the first ever Black president of a majority-White university. He was also the first Black person to hold the number-two position at the U.S. State Department.
Wharton spoke multiple languages, was the first Black person to receive a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago, and attended undergrad at Harvard University, entering at the age of 16.

In a lifetime marked by firsts, Wharton blew a hole through every expectation set for people of color. He consistently demonstrated “what could be,” as Vice President Kamala Harris famously described, “unburdened by what has been.” In the process, he inspired a generation of leaders who walked through the doors he opened quietly and left ajar.

Many Americans aren’t familiar with the full remarkable legacy of this giant among men. Wharton was never one to boast, and while he respected the history he was making, he never reveled in it. He died this past weekend at the age of 98.
In celebration of all that he accomplished, I felt inspired to share some of my favorite lessons from the life of this quiet pioneer.

1. Don’t let yourself be defined by the expectations of others.
   Born in the 1920s, Wharton came of age during a time when Black Americans could not vote, schools were not yet integrated, and segregation was the accepted policy of the day. At best, people didn’t expect much of someone who looked like Wharton. At worst, some hated his success and actively wanted him to fail. But Wharton’s wisdom was in hearing and understanding the bias without allowing it to slow him down.
2. 
   In his 2015 autobiography, “Privilege and Prejudice: The Life of a Black Pioneer” (Michigan State University Press), Wharton extolled the importance of “not allowing racial discrimination or negative expectations to poison one’s sensibilities or deflect one from a chosen path.” He committed to determining his own path and being comfortable in his own skin.
3. 
   This commitment paid off. As put by The New York Times in a 1988 profile, “In the course of his career, Wharton had become a Black member of the establishment rather than a member of the Black establishment.” Toxicity can harm you only if you breathe it in. Wharton kept his hazmat suit on and kept moving forward.
4. Look everywhere for opportunities to learn.
   Whether it was a Rockefeller, a Nobel Prize – winning economist, or his own father–who was the first Black American to achieve the rank of U.S. ambassador, a trailblazer in his own right – Wharton sought opportunities to learn from the brightest minds he could find. He also did everything he could to broaden his perspective.
5. 
   “I am at heart an internationalist,” Wharton told Inside Higher Ed magazine in 2015. “Therefore, for me, the search for knowledge and the intellectual world are not centered in one nation.”
6. The more you make a habit of listening, the more you can trust your gut when there are tough decisions to make.
   When Wharton took over as president of Michigan State University, he took the time out of his schedule to eat with students and to meet with them regularly. When, a short time later, protests against the war in Vietnam broke out on campuses across the nation, Wharton was able to move decisively. There was no protocol in place, but because he already knew students’ concerns, he instituted a policy that adequately reflected their perspectives and values. It resulted in a much more peaceful resolution than seen on most other major university campuses. Which brings us to the next lesson.
7. People follow those who are calm in the face of chaos.
   “What was most impressive was how calm he was,” recalled Teresa Sullivan, reflecting on Wharton’s handling of the protests in an interview with The New York Times. Sullivan was then a Michigan State student and later became president of the University of Virginia. “Student demonstrators were swearing in his face, and he never lost his cool.” What Wharton understood is that a significant portion of leadership and diplomacy is just being the person who lowers the temperature in the room.
8. There is power in keeping your commitments, but don’t become a slave to them.
   After leaving Michigan State, Wharton was appointed chancellor of the State University of New York system. Less than a year into the role, however, his dream job came knocking – CEO of the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation. Instead of leaving, Wharton chose to stay at SUNY to make good on his commitment to the university. He empowered the schools with more localized decision authority, bolstered the overall research capability, and significantly improved the reputation of the university. As a result, new doors were opened to him and his next job was as CEO of the financial services giant TIAA-CREF. The icing on the cake? He was named chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation board.
   But this lesson has a flip side, which Wharton also understood. You can’t let your commitments become anchors.
9. There is power also in knowing when to walk away.
   When President Bill Clinton named Wharton to be the first Black person to ever hold the post of Deputy U.S. Secretary of State, the situation was fraught almost from the start. He and the Secretary–who wanted a more traditional diplomat in the role–never saw eye-to-eye. After just nine months in the role, Wharton resigned. Leaving was one of the better decisions he could have made for both his pride and career.
10. 
    As debates rage in the U.S. about the virtues of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, Wharton’s legacy is a reminder that the interests of DEI and those of merit-based policies are not at odds. An effective merit-based system does not mean the absence of diversity. It actually means the opposite. When DEI is done well, it surfaces the Wharton’s of world, even when they don’t have the same exposure and privilege that he did.
11. 
    To his core, Wharton represented Black excellence. This does not mean excellent by Black standards. What it means is that by seeking and achieving objective excellence in his career, Wharton became a symbol of Black talent, ingenuity, and work ethic in a way that is inspirational to those of us who have faced the prejudice he successfully overcame, and indisputable to those who were forced to examine their prejudice as a result of his exceptionalism.
    It’s time we properly celebrate the life and impact of this true Black pioneer.
    This article originally appeared at inc.com.