Group 4.
Great results. No promotion. What’s going on? Work through each round with your group and submit your notes here.
Meet Leena.
Leena is a South African Indian woman who manages a project team.
- Her team consistently meets its targets.
- She helps colleagues develop their skills.
- She values listening, collaboration, and respectful communication.
- She wants to move into senior leadership.
Her company operates in post-apartheid South Africa. Senior leadership remains mostly white and male. She has just been denied a promotion.
Kestrel Ridge’s promotion rules
- Strong results
- “Executive presence”
- Support from a senior leader
There is no scoring guide for any of them.
“Be more outspoken. Spend more time with senior leaders. Watch how they do things.”
The evidence
Six months later.
Leena follows the advice.
- She speaks more firmly in meetings and attends several networking events.
- Her next review calls her “too aggressive.”
- She still has no senior sponsor.
She still doesn’t get promoted.
The evidence
A fictional case inspired by Carrim and Nkomo (2016). Responses are anonymous.