Dear Kobe

Dear Kobe,

We have never met, but I love you. It is only appropriate that I start with that truth. I never thought of my admiration for you as love until the news of your passing reached me yesterday on January 26, 2020. Why would I shed tears for someone I never met before? Impact. Life is not measured in years; it is measured in the magnitude of our impact on others. While many of us may feel you were prematurely taken from us, the truth is, you remain with us. Your legacy remains through the lives you have touched.

I grew up rooting for your fellow competitor Iverson, so that meant, at times I was rooting against you. As my love for the game grew, so did my respect for you. Eventually I would start rooting for you too. I admired your approach to the game. You never cheated the game. You put in the work and you got the results. Your accolades speak volumes. As I grew older, I began to appreciate your work ethic even more and started to try and imitate it in my own life. How I approached my studies. How I approached my work, like you, I didn’t want to cheat the game. More importantly I did not want to rob myself of the potential that God gave me. As you demanded more of yourself, I demanded more of myself.

Your life is your greatest work – its your masterpiece. Who you are spoke and still speaks volumes. It is not what a man professes but how he lives that shows what he truly believes. You lived and breathed the Mamba Mentality. Your life became a project of what you would become if you put in the work. You became the Black Mamba, which is all about the pursuit of excellence. The Mamba Mentality stands for attention to detail, focus, work-ethic, and becoming the best version of yourself. I also love how you added depth to what it means to be the Black Mamba – it started off being the pursuit of excellence but later was combined with loving your family well and pouring into the next generation.

It is hard to say goodbye but to move forward I will honor your legacy by living the Mamba Mentality. I will commit myself to the pursuit of excellence, loving my family well, and pouring into the next generation – to me that is the Mamba Mentality.

Jeff#MambaMentality

Kenneth Frazier – Black History

Most people think I dreamed of coming to law school because I dreamed of becoming a lawyer. While that is a fair assumption it would be wrong! I am a businessman. I have wanted to be one since I was young and my desire to go to law school has been to further that end. I believe that legal training is superior training that can be used for whatever endeavor you want. Kenneth Frazier is a perfect example of that. Ken doesn’t have an MBA, all he has is a law degree from Harvard, that didn’t stop him from becoming the CEO of Merck.

Ken is from Philadelphia, where he and his two siblings were raised by his father who had a third-grade equivalent education. Ken’s mother died when he was 12. Ken would start his career at Drinker Biddle, a Philadelphia based law firm, where he would make partner. While a partner at Drinker Biddle, Merck & Co was one for Ken’s clients. He joined Merck as it’s general counsel. As general counsel, Ken oversaw the defense against claims that Vioxx had caused heart attacks and strokes. Analysts estimate a potential legal liability of $20-50 billion dollars. He fought the cases in court and the remaining were settled for $4.85 billion.

Additionally, as a pro bono representation, Ken represented death row inmate James Willie “Bo” Cochran who had been accused of murder. After 19 years on death row, the 11^th circuit overturned the Bo’s conviction. Ken also notably stepped down from President Trump’s American Manufacturing Council after the Charlottesville riots and Ken served as chairman of a special investigation committee involving the sex abuse scandal of Jerry Sandusky of Penn state football. Ken Fraizer, we salute you.

Source (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Frazier)

Mellody Hobson – Black History

Mellody Hobson is one of my favorite businesspeople. Mellody is the Co-CEO of Ariel investments, one of the largest African American owned asset managers in the country with nearly $13 billion in assets under management. Let me just cut to the chase with Mellody, she is one of my favorite businesspeople for stories like this. Mellody Hobson was presented with the opportunity to work on Bill Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign. She didn’t want to leave Ariel, but she didn’t want to pass up this opportunity, so she said the following to Bill, “I will work for you part-time in the evenings, but I will give you full-time effort and you will never feel like I work for you part-time.” (as stated in “The Path Redefined: Getting to the Top on Your Own Terms” by Lauren Bias). So, for almost two years, she would work at Ariel from 6am to 3pm and then work for Bill from 4pm to 10pm, you know, MambacitaMentality. It has been said that Mellody’s work ethic and connections made from this experience caused people to offer her opportunities to sit on corporate boards. Mellody has either sat on or currently sits on the following boards: DreamWorks Animation, Ariel Investments Trust, JPMorgan Chase, Chicago Public Education Fund, Starbucks Corporation, and The Estee Lauder Companies. Additionally, Mellody is married to film director George Lucas. Overall Mellody Hobson is a beast. We salute you Mellody.

Source (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellody_Hobson)

Ted Talk (https://www.ted.com/talks/mellody_hobson_color_blind_or_color_brave?language=en)

Kobe Bryant – Black History

The most profound message I learned from Kobe was to completely exhaust myself in pursuit of maximizing my God-given talent. Kobe lived this.

I can’t help but think of the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). In the parable, a wealthy man gives each of his three servants money (called Talents) to oversee until he returns from a trip. He gives one servant 5 talents, one servant 2 talents, and another servant 1 talent. On his return, he judges every servant according to what he did with the talents he was given. It is important to note that no servant was judge based on the talents given to another servant, only based on the talent given to him.

Kobe was a man who was entrusted with immense talent, but he was a man who was laser focused on maximizing his God-given talent. He never rested on his laurels. Kobe was the man who was the most talented player on the court but was also the hardest working. He had the heart of Rudy Ruettiger.

When asked what Kobe wants to be remembered for, he had this to say., ““I’ve always said that I wanted to be remembered as a player that didn’t waste a moment. Didn’t waste a day. I felt extremely blessed with a God-given talent. At the same time, I didn’t take it for granted at all. So if I could be remembered as a person with a lot of talent, but did everything he could to overachieve and lived every day like if he’s was the 12th guy on the bench. I think that is a very powerful message to have and something that hopeful the hopefully the players that are here now and those that come later will choose to embody as well.”

Jordan is remembered as the greatest ever. Lebron is recognized as the most gifted player ever, but Kobe has been memorialized as the hardest working ever. The most determined, focused player we have seen. The question is what are you doing with what you have been given? You will not be judged based on the talents that were given to Kobe. You will be judged based on the talents given to YOU. What are you doing to maximize your God-given talent? What will the master say when he returns about how you used what he gave you? I pray that we all proceed with the Mamba mentality.

When we retire from whatever our craft is, our prayer should be to retire empty. We want to be able to say that we left it all on the court. That we gave the game everything we had and like Kobe we can retire satisfied and at peace.

Fans love to do it, especially me, but you will notice Kobe rarely engaged in GOAT talk. He once said that he doesn’t have time to engage in arguments that he cannot objectively win, pointing to the fact that its one man’s opinion vs another man’s opinion. Kobe just let his dedication to the game do the talking and for that reason I respect Kobe of all the greats. Kobe has the mentality that I tap into when I want to overcome a great obstacle. Kobe is the one has a life that embodies my favorite parable, do everything in your power to maximize your God-given talent. This is the Mamba Mentality. Thank you, Kobe.

Aaron Albert Mossell – Black History

Today we honor Aaron Albert Mossell. Aaron graduated from Penn Law in 1888, making him the first African American to earn a law degree from Penn. Aaron was born on November 3, 1863 in Ontario, Canada, making him approximately 25 years old when he graduated from Penn Law. Aaron was the great grandson of enslaved people. I am sure they would be proud of what he accomplished. Aaron came from a family that apparently taught the importance of hard work. Aaron’s father, Aaron senior had a brick laying business. Charles, Aaron’s eldest brother graduated from Lincoln University, studied theology in Boston, then became a missionary to Haiti. Nathan, Aaron’s brother became the first African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.
Aaron Mossell would go on to practice law in Philadelphia in various capacities. He would marry and divorce Mary Louisa Tanner. Not before having three children who would carry on the family legacy, Aaron Albert Mossell, Elizabeth Mossell Anderson, and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander. Aaron – the son became a pharmacist in Philadelphia, Elizabeth became dean of women at Virginia State College and later at Wilberforce University, and Sadie….Sadie held it down. Sadie became the first African American to receive a PhD in Economics, and then the first African American woman to earn a Penn Law degree and be admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar.
What a legacy, we salute you Aaron Albert Mossell. Thank you for paving a way of excellence, determination, and no excuses.