Working in America: Spectator or Gladiator.You Decide

Working in America - Spectator or Gladiator...You Decide is a book about navigating the sometimes white-water rapids of the American workplace. It is also about living life with intentionality, never yielding to becoming a human tumbleweed, blown from one position to another and lacking passion for any. The author takes you through defining moments in his life which shaped the man and leader he was to become, starting as early as six years old when his father told him for the first time (and which was repeated many times over) "Boy, this world owes you nothing." Mason truly believes those five words fundamentally shaped his view of how he was going to engage with this world. He believes one's path forward must begin with a vision of where you want to go and then developing a plan to get there. Mason acknowledges the existence of racism, sexism, homophobia and other ills that afflict our society. He acknowledges none are likely to disappear in his lifetime or that of any reader of his book. So what do we do today as some face one or more of the aforementioned challenges? Mason personally chose a path in which the quality of his work would stand on its own and one in which, for better or for worse, he was unafraid to speak his mind. He believes that emotion is like the fat in a steak. A little adds to the flavor and texture of the steak, but too much simply makes it a bad piece of meat. Mason believes too many of the many people he has mentored have lost their way because of anger which added little value to their personal quests. He believes his own life has left little tine for whining and absolutely none for being anyone's victim.

This is a book of stories from his life ranging from his Little League days right through his career in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where he rose to be one of the four highest ranking Black Special Agents in the FBI's history, to his career as a Senior Vice-President and Chief Security Officer at a Fortune 500 company. He hopes to make you laugh a little along the way, but more importantly, to illustrate how he has navigated the white-water rapids of life with a consistently positive attitude. It is a very small book packed with stories which provide real-life navigational tools to push anyone a bit closer to truly living one's best life.