Giving Notice: Why the Best and the Brightest Leave the Workplace and How You Can Help Them Stay

Chapter 1. The Meritocracy Myth: is the Playing Field Level?

I arrived in the lobby of the New York headquarters at 2:47 P.M. It was Thursday. The highly respected general counsel of the corporation came down to greet me. The sound of his Berluti shoes against the marble floors heralded his arrival long before we shook hands. He quickly escorted me past security and up to the 34th floor, where I would meet three of the CEO's most trusted advisers. Going from office to office and from pinstripe suit to pinstripe suit, I began to sense the unspoken dynamics of this company. After decades of advising international law firms, major financial services institutions, and other multinational conglomerates on organizational development and diversity ...