Team Playgirl

Dear Alisa and Gina,

My boss has been a friend of mine for over 10 years, at our current company and at a prior one. We socialize as well as work together. I think he values my insights and point of view except on one issue. There are four other women who also report to my boss. Three of them are very professional and highly effective in their positions. One is just not competent. I tried to get my boss to hire someone else, but that didn’t work. Since her promotion, Lucy (let’s call her that) has started to wear extremely sexy clothes to work. Her blouses are quite revealing, her skirts are short, and her shoes all have spiky heels. Really she doesn’t dress properly for an office. The other women and I are offended by her style. Combine her wardrobe with her poor business skills and how well our boss thinks of her and you have to wonder if something else is going on. What bothers me the most is what’s happened to the productivity of the management team. What should I say and to whom should I say it? ~ Annoyed

If your focus is really on how the team is performing I think you have the obligation as a leader yourself to attempt to change things. Since you have a longstanding relationship with your boss you could start there. Let him know what’s going on with the morale. Let him know if there are stories you’ve heard. Try to focus on how it’s affected you personally. But consider this; will you be willing to accept that even if you speak up, the situation may not change at all?And then there’s also the possibility of speaking up to “Lucy” directly. Whatever you say I suggest you think about what your needs are, what bothers you the most (that she dresses that way, that your boss likes it, that she has a position she doesn’t deserve, that it reflects badly somehow on your own talents, etc.?). Once you’ve really sat with what your concerns are – at a level below the surface - you may be able to speak up in a way that is more helpful to both of you. ~ Alisa

I would just stare at her boobs. And tell her that she missed the auditions for “Girls Gone Wild.” ~ Gina