Bit of an odd one. I’ve been out of the corporate world for over a decade and a lot has changed 😁
My issue is that I’m awful at remembering names, which makes it tricky to refer to someone I’ve just chatted with. I’m usually fine once I’ve seen names around on Teams or in emails. But, early on, I sometimes have to describe people and I’m unsure what is considered okay these days.
For example, the last time I said “a lady who is a little shorter than me with curly hair”. The reaction I got was a bit stiff as if I’d said something off. Just to be clear, the lady was white (I didn't mean afro hair or anything culturally specific).
It made me wonder... Are we avoiding physical descriptions altogether now? What is the right way to handle this? 🙏
- Unreasonable: don't use any physical description
- Reasonable: physical descriptors are fine as long as not loaded with negative or biased undertones