Scenario 5
Request for Promotion (Kim)
Kim is an Asian Pacific American (APA) woman in the legal department of ABC
Electronics, a Fortune 500 multinational company headquartered in the U.S. Kim graduated
in the top 10% of her law school class, was an editor of the law review, clerked for a federal
district court judge, and worked for an AmLaw100 law firm for five years before being hired by
ABC six years ago. Today, she is a Senior Attorney specializing in mergers, acquisitions, and
divestitures.
Kim has maintained relationships with several law school classmates and former
colleagues from her law firm. Many have recently become or are about to become partners in
their law firms. Seeing her friends undergo this rite of passage in their career development
has prompted Kim to reflect on her situation. She is happy at ABC but is uncertain of her
prospects for upward mobility. She knows that a few of her colleagues who have been
practicing law for 10-12 years have the title of Assistant General Counsel, whereas her title
has remained Senior Attorney since she first joined the company. She raised this with her
immediate supervisor, Michael, during her most recent performance review. Michael advised
her to not be obsessed with titles and offered vague assurances that her time would come.
Since then, Kim has learned from a friend who works in Human Resources that Assistant
General Counsels have a higher annual incentive opportunity than Senior Attorneys and also
are eligible to participate in the long-term incentive plan.
Recently, Michael took Kim to lunch for a touching-base conversation. When he
asked if anything was on her mind, Kim reiterated her desire to be promoted to Assistant
General Counsel and shared her knowledge about the higher level of benefits, so that it was
more than merely a matter of title. Michael appeared irritated that Kim had raised this subject
again. He responded that if she wanted to move up in the organization, it would be helpful if
she could learn to get along with her colleagues. Kim expressed surprise, as she thought that
she did get along with everyone, to which Michael responded, “You know what I mean, it
would help if you were one of the guys. You work really hard when you’re in the office, but we
never see you hanging out in the coffee room on Monday mornings when the fantasy football
league discusses the weekend results or going for a beer on Thursdays after work. You just
don’t seem to be a real team player.”
Kim thanked Michael for the feedback and asked whether he had any other advice.
Somewhat reluctantly, he told her that in ABC’s corporate culture, promotions often were
dependent on the number of people supervised and that Kim wasn’t regarded as
management material because she lacked leadership qualities. He quickly assured her that
her work was highly regarded and said it wasn’t such a bad thing to be a “key individual
contributor.”
Kim was devastated by this feedback and is at a loss for what to do. Her parents
had always told her that the way to be successful was to work hard and do her very best with
every assignment. No one ever said that understanding fantasy football or drinking beer with
“the guys” were prerequisites to success. Also, most of her male colleagues are married and
Kim is not. She isn’t entirely comfortable with the thought of socializing outside the workplace,
particularly with married men. She also is perplexed at having been told she lacks leadership
qualities. This feedback is at odds with her experiences such as having been an editor of law
review and serving on the board of directors of her local Asian Pacific American Bar
Association.
Kim wonders whether she should talk with someone in HR, either her friend on an
informal basis or the manager who is the liaison for the legal department on an official basis.
She is hesitant, in part because it goes against her family upbringing to make waves at work;
yet, Kim believes that a new generation of APA attorneys are succeeding by being not only
hardworking but also as gregarious and assertive as their non-APA counterparts. Kim isn’t
certain how to proceed but believes that she will need to modify her behavior in order to
overcome the presumptions by her supervisor and others that she is not a team player or
management material.
Discussion Questions:
1. Is Kim’s desire to become an Assistant General Counsel legitimate, or is her
supervisor, Michael, correct that she is simply obsessed with titles?
2. What can Kim do about Michael’s perception that she is not a team player? Should
she learn to play fantasy football and start joining the guys for drinks on Thursdays
after work? Why or why not?
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3. What can Kim do about Michael’s perception that she is not management material?
Should she accept his assurances that it is okay to be a key individual contributor
within the ABC legal department? Why or why not?
4. What can Kim do about her belief that Michael has incorrectly assessed her leadership
capability and potential? Why do you think Michael’s perception differs from Kim’s?
5. Now that he is aware of her interest in being promoted, what are Michael’s
responsibilities to Kim as her supervisor? What does it mean to be a supervisor? A
mentor? A sponsor? Is there a difference between mentorship and sponsorship?
6. Should Kim communicate her concerns to the HR department? Why or why not?
7. What advice do you have for Kim about how to harmonize her cultural values of
working hard and not making waves with her perception of what behaviors are
necessary for her to succeed as an attorney at her company?
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