As the head of Human Resources, an employee approached you regarding a situation. He 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.
The employee informed you that it was uncomfortable for him to hear this. The employee looks dismayed but isn’t saying anything. How would you advise him?
Has anything like this happened to you? How did you react? Do you wish that you would have done anything differently?