I had to conform to move up the latter
In my last performance review my supervisor told me, “You’re doing a great job and I don’t have any issues with your performance but you need to better manage perceptions.” On another occasion I was told, “You really need to learn to play golf.” The suggestions that I started to receive were not even performance related, rather they were based on perceptions and conformity. No one could explain why my bonus was reduced by 2/3 even though I had my best year ever. It seemed like people of color had to conform to move up the ladder.
Brian Walters, an African-American male in the real estate industry
