Women have come a long way in business, but unfortunately a lot of bias against women still exists.

Some of it may be unconscious and unintentional, but it’s hard to tell.

See how the CEO in this story handled it.

A letter for our CEO, Mr. Johnson

I just came back from a great skiing trip with a bunch of colleagues.

It was a short holiday in our private time and paid in full by anyone who joined the trip.

In other words: it was a private trip, with all attendees working at the same company.

The youngest person in the group was fresh out of school, while others have been in key positions in the company for decades.

It’s a very interesting trip.

The company I work for is a Dutch engineering firm with 1000+ employees.

This field of work is dominated by men.

We are a professional yet very informal organization, where everyone addresses each other on a first name basis.

Our former CEO was with us on the trip. Let’s call her Cathy Johnson.

Not only is she a great skier, she is also a very outgoing person who loves to have fun and who hates pretentious behavior.

By the way: the reason that she’s not the CEO anymore but still works at the company is that we have a mandatory rule that requires the executive board to step down at the age of 55.

The thought behind that is that the best performing, fresh-minded leaders are generally not people who are well past sixty years of age.

On the day of our return trip (a 10-hour drive – we were carpooling), we had already vacated the hotel and went out skiing until well after lunchtime.

Then they listen and learn.

While we were changing clothes out in the open in the car parking, she shared a great story.

While she was the CEO, she received many letters addressed to the CEO, Mr. Johnson or Mr. C. Johnson.

These letters were all based on the false assumption that the CEO of an engineering firm must be a man.

She instructed her secretary to return every single letter unopened that addressed her as a man.

Her secretary, also a woman, loved doing that.

She returned dozens of letters over the year, stating that there was no Mr. Johnson at our company.

When I asked Cathy about the replies, she told me that the senders invariably either sent a second letter with profuse apologies or were never heard from again.

Here is what people are saying.

Laziness is just part of it.

It makes sense. Good for them.

SO ageist. How sad if the CEO is okay with this.

Good for you! I would, too.

You missed the point by a mile.

A good lesson for people in business.

Take the extra minute next time.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.