I’m in charge of a business function that covers several different offices, so I’m often on the road to visit the locations. I kept hearing the name of a new salesperson come up: Linda Marconi. Some of my staff at the office she worked at were becoming very involved with problems she should have been calling into a service desk for. I asked them to redirect her, but then I would hear from other employees that they continued to help her.
I was a little puzzled–these guys usually tried to avoid dealing with people as much as possible. So on my next visit, I kept one eye out to see if Linda would stop by the area where my team was assigned. By noon on my first day there, the question had been answered.
The clicking heels announced her presence and I looked up subtly to see a nice pair of legs. She was wearing a skirt that was too short for an office and four-inch heels. I already had a feeling about what her deal was before she turned to peak into my office. Once I saw the tell-tale overuse of eye makeup and low cut shirt, I knew she was experiencing what I call the “aging stewardess syndrome”: an aging woman who relied on her looks for professional success was not dealing with her decline very well. I didn’t give away that I had checked her out and continued to work.