The Rules of Engagement:
A Sistah’s Guide to Navigating Corporate America

A comprehensive guide designed for young Black women considering a career in corporate America. Ideal for juniors and seniors in college, entry level professionals, women making a career change or any sistah struggling to understand the cultural social norms and practices of corporate America.

Professionals are bound by a set of procedural rules that were made without the input of women, African Americans, or native people.

This power play is mirrored across America where white men control access and have the authority to fill decision-making positions in the country’s top corporations, academia, government, and entertainment industries. Almost 75% of Fortune 500 boards are mainly comprised of white men.

And because there are unwritten rules for Them and Us that keep Us at a disadvantage, The Rules of Engagement have been written by sistahs in corporate America (and leadership roles across all sectors) to help level the playing field for sistahs joining the workforce.

CLICK LINK BELOW TO READ A SAMPLE CHAPTER

Because We Weren’t Handed a Playbook

An Adaptation

Amber Wynn and co-writer Keisha Wright adapted The Rules of Engagement to a dramedy The Black Girls’ Guide to Corporate America and was featured in a First Fifteen table read.

Kimberly Herbert as Gabrielle Wynn

Brittany Bellizeare as Maya Wright

Rashawn Nadine Scott as Brooklyn Brown

Susan Louise O’Connor as Jill Trippet

Rod McLachlan as Don Bohana

Nicola Rinow as Waitress/Sandy/Kate

Joi Elise Little as Autumn Trippet

Courtney Gabrielle Williams as Narrator

We Have to Play to Win

  • Learn it

    The driving force behind a company’s success is revenue. Revenue is tied to a number of things: the company’s solvency, growth, and ability to cover its operational expenses. It’s also tied to how our society defines professional success. As a person climbs the corporate ladder, their titles change, their salaries increase, and their roles and importance in the company increases. There is power at the top; and that power is prized and protected.

  • Accept It

    Embrace what is. Don’t waste time and lose focus trying to “understand” why they treat us the way they do. It’s a part of a culture that has been designed to keep them on top. Know that there is nothing wrong with you. Your intentions, goals, and objectives do not matter. The sooner you embrace that, the more powerful you will be, because you won’t be distracted trying to figure out something that is not figure-outable.

  • Apply it

    To win, you must understand and then master the game. Talent, skills, intellect, and hard work are not enough. The mental side of the game is what separates those who win from those who don’t. Playing the game better than your opponent and understanding what you’re doing, what you’re working toward at all times is essential. It’s a lot of work, but if you want to be successful in corporate America, it’s what you have to do.

Life has never been easy for African American women in America . . .

Despite our academic success in college, it does not get easier once we join the workforce.

Yet, we graduate believing if we work hard, we will reap the rewards of our efforts and will excel. We go in not understanding that there are two sets of rules in play: Rules for Us and Rules for Them. So, we stumble, lose ground, and find ourselves questioning, doubting—exhausted trying to play a game we don't understand.

After years of being gaslighted, discriminated against, and denied access, Black professional women decided enough was enough.

Smart, intelligent, and armed with the power of our sisterhood, we decided to take on this systemic institutionalized racist culture prevalent in corporate America, and share with upcoming generations those things that we ourselves were never privy to: The Rules of Engagement

Our hope is that finally, young Black women will be able to go into corporate America understanding the unwritten rules and expectations that level the playing field.

If you know where the landmines are hidden, can accept the parameters of the game, and can strategically map out a plan, perhaps you can thrive. Or, you can make an informed decision not to play the game at all.

Either way, this guide provides the next generation of Black professional women with guidance, support, and sisterly love to help powerfully map their own course.

You’re not going into the battle alone, your sistahs have got your back!

The Playbook is the Foundation

The Rules of Engagement is your playbook. It’s where we map out your strategy for navigating corporate America. From the playbook, teams design custom game plans for each opponent.

Coaches scrap or add plays depending on the opponent. Schemes get tweaked slightly to adjust for specific matchups. The playbook is the foundation. From the diagrams, to the formation, to the team’s ethos, laid out across hundreds of pages, every bit of the playbook matters. In corporate America, plays could be relayed through a look, a nod, a code word.

Meet Amber Wynn

Amber Wynn is a native of Los Angeles. Youngest of eight, she proudly reps Watts, California and credits the community for many of the social and interpersonal skills that helped her survive Corporate America.

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Additional Resources

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