I’m going to tell you a story. Pay close attention: There’s a quiz at the end of it.

Earlier this year I was attending an industry conference. The afternoon before the proceedings began I grabbed lunch at one of the conference hotel’s restaurants. As it happened, I was seated next to a couple of folks who also were there for the conference; I know this because they were wearing shirts sporting their companies’ logos.

I was not wearing any sort of identification and I did not introduce myself.

I gathered from the conversation, which was easily overheard, that one party was looking to connect with the other party on some business. Over the next hour or so, the first speaker, the one looking to strike up a relationship, dominated the conversation, holding the floor about 80% of the time. She (or he) talked about the company, their own career path, clients (by name), the economic drivers affecting the business.

And he (or she) talked about really liking the “coon-asses” who are the clients; saying they’re good people and make a good product. She (or he) felt sorry for the plant managers working for the big processors, though: “You know everybody they have to work with is some part ‘caramel’, and to get anything done you have to get down to their level.”

There was an anecdote that was shared, where one party described telling a black colleague, “Watch out: I am the white devil you're so afraid of!” And there was discussion of the uselessness of workers who don’t speak English, saying they’re “all illegal” anyway and should have drowned in the Rio Grande before they even got here.

Set aside for now the notion that people are entitled to their opinion or that political correctness is run amok: This was a business meeting, taking place at some volume in an otherwise quiet restaurant, between two people whose employers were readily identifiable.

So, how many people reading this blog right now are wondering if one of the parties was wearing their company logo?

How does it make you feel to think that your company could be represented by someone holding up one end of this conversation?

Some readers no doubt are certain that nobody from their company could be a player in this scene. But think about it: Do you know everybody at the company well enough to know for sure that, maybe away from the bosses, they wouldn’t say such things? How about after a few drinks?

So what would you do if you found out that somebody at your company had had such a conversation while representing the company at an industry function? While speaking with someone the company hopes to do business with?

The conversation wasn’t all about race. Both parties seemed to be personally and professionally successful. There were highlights of an admirable military career. Long-time marriages are chugging along and the kids are doing well.

What would you do if an individual from your company conversed this way with a business prospect, and was otherwise a solid performer and well-liked colleague?

What would you do?

What would you do?

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