SCENARIO ONE
DON’T LET THE BOSS
IGNORE YOU!
The boss is showing an important
client, Mrs. Henry, around the
office. He walks by two senior managers and stops to introduce her.
The first manager is Mary, an Asian
woman, who has been with the
company for 10 years and is well regarded. The second is John, a white
man who is relatively new and has
become a favorite of the boss.
Boss: Mrs. Henry, I’m so glad
you could come in and visit our
agency today. As a new client, I
really wanted to show you around
and introduce you to some of the
valued members of our team who
are going to be working on your
account. This is Mary. Mary is our
marketing manager. She has been
with us for about 10 years.
Mary: Nice to meet you.
Mrs. Henry: Nice to meet you.
Boss: And this guy is John. John
is our creative director. He’s been
with us for about eight months.
He’s absolutely fantastic; he’s
done a lot of great work with a lot
of companies similar in size, and
the same industry as you. I think
that he is going to be a fantastic
addition to your team. He’ll really
work hard for you.
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Boss: That’s great! Fantastic. Keep
up the good work!
John: Thank you.
Mrs. Henry: Nice to meet you.
John: Nice to meet you. I’ve got
a lot of new ideas already up my
sleeve for your company.
Mrs. Henry: That’s great.
Mary wants to stay at the
company but she is insulted and
isn’t sure where she stands. How
does she make her boss aware
of how she is feeling after that
exchange?
LINDA AKUTAGAWA: The logical
reaction is she should just tell the
boss. But because of her cultural
or ethnic background, more
than likely she is feeling pretty
conflicted. In Asian culture, being
confrontational is not a trait
that’s valued and so I am sure
that she is torn. She wants to say
something but she is not sure
she should because she would be
