I remember exactly where I was when I met M. Quentin Williams for the first time. It was in the bowels of what was then called the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, and I’m going to guess that it was the fall of 1998. I was getting a tour of the facility from my longtime friend Joe Lynch, then working at the ATP, as I was in the area to speak to ATP tournament members on some communications opportunities…I was at the USTA at the time.
What I don’t remember is how exactly we became friends after that initial encounter, or what I would come to learn from Q over all these years; his journey, raised with his brother by a single mother who was white with little money in Yonkers, NY, how he became football captain at Boston College…how Tom Coughlin helped bring him to Jacksonville to work with the Jags, becoming a lawyer and teacher, helping run the D league (now G League) in Charleston, becoming an FBI agent, becoming an author about his experiences getting pulled over ever year driving from Charlotte to NY, and all his most recent work with creating a bridge between law enforcement and the community…has really led him to be perched in a position of great influence and opportunity for change in what is one of the most tumultuous times in our history.
Rather than me writing on, I will make a suggestion to do what Q preaches, and what we talk about at great length as a key to effective and meaningful communication…LISTEN. He had a great sit down with Bill King at Sports Business Journal this week and you can hear it here. Also take a look at his bio and company.
But before you do that, a few things to listen for…and keep in mind all going on in the sports and media and entertainment worlds today and in the next few weeks, as Q’s message, and his struggle to get people in those businesses to buy in…has been as we have said a few times recently…been accelerated by the inevitable…this time the inevitable is that race relations in the US have been brewing for almost as long as we have been a country…and now, maybe it seems that the water in the boiling pot isn’t going back in…it has to be used to make a better soup.
Q’s points are clear for his “Recipe for Reconciliation:”
Listening
Learning
Acknowledging
Take Action
Build trust
Get to healing
Reconcile
However, it all starts with what he calls “beautiful listening:” Being able to be vulnerable enough to try and understand pain; be open minded and humble and use that vulnerability as a pillar of courage to invoke change. The change is not just for people of color either…it applies to anyone who is not like “us” and it is not easy, but it is a roadmap to change…and with that change all can grow.
But it sbegins with listening. Two ears, one mouth, as grandpa taught me and Q has always preached.
Hope it is helpful.
