Memoirs of a serious player.

• Position: Earl G. Graves Pres and CEO Earl G. Graves - Includes related article - Cover Story

What it takes, and what it means, to succeed - in business, in the boardroom, and in life.

When black enterprise first appeared in 1970, there were only three black people among the 3,000 serving as directors on the boards of the Fortune 500 companies. They were Clifton Wharton at Equitable, Thomas Wood at Chase Manhattan Bank, and Robert Weaver at Metropolitan Life Insurance.

Even before these pioneering black professionals came on the scene, a long tradition of black entrepreneurship had been established in this country. It began with the slaves who operated farms or mined salt on their own time to buy their freedom and the freedom of their families, and it evolved into major retail centers operated by black merchants and patronized by residents of thriving neighborhoods populated by working-class and professional African Americans.

Every year that I am in business, I have greater admiration and respect for these courageous and indomitable early black entrepreneurs, as well as those who came later: people such as Howard Naylor Fitzhugh, the dean of black business and the first African American Harvard MBA; Arthur G. Gaston Sr., founder of Booker T. Washington Insurance Co.; Henry G. Parks Jr., founder of Parks Sausage Co.; and of course John Johnson, publisher of Ebony and Jet; along with the many other unsung pioneers of black economic development.

In truth, it's probably impossible for me to understand how hard it was for those who came before me, although the concept of being black and in business was still considered to be almost seditious even when I was a student at Morgan State University in Baltimore from 1953 to 1957.

As a serious player in the game of business, I sit on the boards of Aetna Inc., American Airlines, Chrysler Corp., Federated Department Stores Inc., and Rohm and Haas Co. Had I suggested these possibilities to my Morgan classmates back in college, they would have howled.

I receive a fresh offer to serve on a corporate board at least once a year, and I doubt that you will find anyone who would describe me as a shrinking violet in matters of race. I'm outspoken on discrimination, but I'm also a champion of shareholder value and business success. Driving shareholder value is the first responsibility of any director.

But let's be frank: African Americans are not invited to join the boards of white-owned companies because the world has run out of smart white people. We are expected to add a unique business perspective and a fresh dimension, just as women are. That is a strength to be leveraged, not a deficit to be hidden away.

I am not an assimilationist, I am an equal opportunist. I want smart black people who work hard. In truth, because of the era in which I started my business, there were as many whites as blacks who reached out to help me, and they did it for the right reasons - because they believed that economic development and self-sufficiency in the black community were good for the entire country. To this day, several of the white businesspeople I know and work with frequently take the unpopular stand on behalf of African Americans. I respect and appreciate their courage.

Getting started by getting involved

When young people ask me how to get started in business, they often appear shocked when I tell them to first get involved in their community. Maybe they think I'm going to give them a job or a $100,000 start-up grant, or maybe they don't get the connection between being involved in the community and getting started in business.

There is a strong connection. One of the best pieces of advice I received early in my career came from a fellow infantry officer, a white guy named James Imhoff. Back when I was getting ready to leave the military, he suggested that I establish myself in my community by getting involved in politics, in the National Guard, and in the Boy Scouts of America. I did all three immediately upon returning to Brooklyn, and I have been reaping the rewards ever since. Along with providing an otherwise rare opportunity to establish relationships with business leaders, volunteer work gives you the chance to showcase your talents.

I wouldn't recommend joining just any community or political organization. You have to take some care in choosing one that interests you and is in line with your beliefs. I remember that very early on I took a seat on the...