One of your co-workers brought along his friend to lunch. When discussing his ne
ID: 447473 • Letter: O
Question
One of your co-workers brought along his friend to lunch. When discussing his new female boss, the friend says: “It really irritates me not only that she gets the job just because she’s a woman, but she’s also Hispanic. There’s no way that someone like me had a chance given her pedigree. And she now has the gall to act as if we’re all one big happy team and the rest of us should accept her leadership. As for me, I’ll do my best to make it difficult for her to succeed. It was uncomfortable for you just to hear this. Your co-worker looks dismayed but isn’t saying anything. What do you do? How have you reacted in situations like this in the past?
Explanation / Answer
The friend behaviour is highly unprofessional. His statement about his new female boss is not only sexual but also superficial and racial. He has this bias that female bosses cannot be a good leader and they get the job because they are females , not because of their professional qualification and leadership qualities. Also, it seems that the friend has a racial bias in his mind against Hispanic race.
Because of this hostile attitude towards female boss, he has already created a barrier against the boss in his mind which is going to make situation worse for not only the organiztion, but for the friend and his boss as well. This behaviour is also likely to permeate in the team as well which is going to hamper the team productivity.
I will try to logically argue with him to understand about the sexual and racial bias in his attitude. After understanding the bias , I will try to argue with him that his bias is baseless and the facts do not support his stand against females and Hisponic race. I will try to make him understand how his behaviour will hamper his future prospects in the organization and will reduce the organizational productivity as well. His bias is not professionally wrong , but ethically and morally unjustified.
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