Black CEO One of Four on Fortune 500

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FARAI CHIDEYA, host:

I'm Farai Chideya, and this is NEWS AND NOTES.

Fewer than one-percent of Fortune 500 companies are led by black CEOs. Clarence Otis, Jr., is one of them. He's the CEO of the Darden Corporation, which owns restaurants including Red Lobster and The Olive Garden; and he thinks it's important to make a clearer path for other professionals of color trying to make it in the business world. Otis spoke earlier with NPR's Ed Gordon.

ED GORDON reporting:

What has been the most challenging aspect for you, being a minority in corporate America?

Mr. CLARENCE OTIS, JR. (CEO and Chairman, Darden Corporation): The biggest challenge is really not having the role models, not seeing yourself, at the senior levels early in your career. And, so, getting past-and really having to look at others, who don't look exactly like you, as role models. But they have backgrounds and have a great deal of similarity.

GORDON: Clarence, here's what's interesting to me about you being at Darden, and certainly this was the case before Darden, because I know it was a big favorite, even when I was in high school, oh so long ago; but two of your restaurants, one that's been around for a mighty long time, Red Lobster and Olive Garden, are favorites of the minority community.

The fact that you're head of this group, do you take that into account? And what have you done to make sure that you service that group?

Mr. OTIS, JR.: I certainly am well aware of it. We look at the demographics of our consumer base all the time, and we know that in the African-American community, in the Latino community, both Olive Garden and Red Lobster are very strong.

And I think part of the reason why we're strong with those guests is why I'm CEO of Darden, and that's because we've had a very strong commitment to diversity, I think, through our entire history; going back to our founder, our namesake, Bill Darden, who started restaurants over 65 years ago. And Bill believed in hiring people of all genders, all ethnicities, back at a time when that was not popular. And so it goes back to that.

It also comes through in our executive ranks, and that level of work has really positioned me to be successful at Darden; ultimately, to get the job that I have today.

GORDON: Clarence, you've been with Darden restaurants for almost a decade now, and when you talk about positioning in corporate America, unlike the old days, you don't always see that. What has made this trip for you such a glorious one to want to stay there ten years?

Mr. OTIS, JR.: Well, it's two things. One is people have to find some real purpose in their work in order to do it well. And, so, that's important. Darden is an organization that focuses on that. There are a lot of tasks in the restaurant business; a lot of them are a real grind. But we try to tell people that all of that is part of a larger purpose, and that purpose, in our case, we talk about nourishing and delighting everyone we serve. And, so, that core purpose is so important. And Darden's core purpose is very aligned with my personal core purpose of working in service of others.

GORDON: I want to ask you about an outside group you're involved in, and in full disclosure, I should note that I'm very familiar with this council because I've hosted the annual dinner on a couple of occasions. But the Executive Leadership Council, again, something that isn't always high profile when you talk about the African-American community, but it is an impressive group of 500-plus African-American executives.

Share with us what the group is and what they do.

Mr. OTIS, JR.: Yeah, it's a group that is, as you said, made up of African-American corporate executives, Fortune 1000 companies for the most part, senior leaders. And it started some time ago by a very small group of folks, back when, I guess, that number was pretty small. And the group is engaged in two levels of work.

One is really just support and networking for the members. Then, the other part is really outreach on a number of levels; starting with college students and business school students, and doing scholarship programs and essay contests and trying to get them exposure, so they understand what the opportunities are.

GORDON: What have you been doing and what would you like to do in the future?

Mr. OTIS, JR.: Well, one of the things that was very valuable to me, with my background growing up in the Watts community of Los Angeles, was really being exposed to what the opportunities were. And, so, certainly, one of the things that is important for me is to help people understand what the opportunities are in the restaurant industry.

There is an ability to enter this industry and so have a restaurant that's generating three-and-a-half to five million dollars a year in revenues, has a hundred employees, and be the person leading that restaurant; and being well compensated for that, making $80,000 to $120,000 dollars a year. Our community really doesn't understand that those kinds of opportunities exist in the restaurant industry, in the retail business, in general.

We haven't seen that it's a new dynamic. It's a new opportunity, and it's something that a lot of folks in our community would be excited to do and would do well.

GORDON: Clarence Otis, Jr., he's Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Darden Restaurants. We thank you very much for spending time with us today.

Mr. OTIS, JR.: Thank you.

CHIDEYA: That was NPR's Ed Gordon.

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