Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
Office Politics
It was insufficient for me to just be excellent in the performance of my position, it was also necessary to be aligned with a rising star and to test my proposals within the context of the current political climate.
I had sought out the coaching and grooming to play the corporate political game; but as a technical marketer, I underestimated the importance of corporate politics until it was too late.
I made a tough choice not to work in a large corporate environment and to work in start-ups, because start-ups don't have a lot of management layers. Everybody is necessary to make the company successful.
I started out in the area of testing and measurement. But overtime I wanted to navigate toward the development side and away from the stress of the manufacturing side, but corporate politics got in the way.
I had a great relationship with my boss. He came to me and said, "You've done a lot of great things here. You have worked on a lot of major transactions. I'm not having any problem at all with your performance, but I'm getting some feedback from my boss that you need to better manage your perceptions." I asked, "What do you mean by better manage perceptions?" He had a hard time explaining what that meant, but I guess it meant that I was suppose to kiss up more and do a little more brown-nosing.
I try to stay away from the office politics, but you need to promote yourself internally. Not just to your boss, but to your boss's boss. I was disadvantaged because I come from a military background, where you never really try to interact with senior personnel because you don't want to do or say anything that might cut your boss.
My friend, who knows I am a lesbian, becomes my boss. The woman who had been my executive assistant was also a closeted lesbian, very closeted, and she started to hate me because she feared I would tell my friend.
I ended up being more slowly promoted than a coworker. I was a better performer, brought in more money, supervised people better. But it was the good old boys' club and I was a woman. I really do think that, had I had a husband, I might have been taken more seriously.
