I AM seeking a rewarding career, having recently completed my bachelor's degree in management. What obstacles will I likely need to overcome in the corporate world, being an older, five-foot tall African American woman?

Name Withheld, Texas, USA

A

When we received your letter, we put it into a file labelled, 'How To Succeed In Business While Looking Different'.

There it joined about 15 other emails that have come in recent months, including ones sent by a Sri Lankan immigrant joining a company in Atlanta, a 64-year-old Puerto Rican nurse promoted into management in a Toronto hospital and a (closet) gay man leading a Fortune 500 sales force.

Every email in the 'How To Succeed . . .' folder tells a unique personal story. But the underlying question is always the same: Can you get taken seriously . . . and get ahead . . . in corporate settings without seeming, well, "traditionally corporate": ie, a straight, white man with a prestigious college degree.

If only the answer was yes.

Unfortunately, in our experience, it is only, 'Yes, but it's harder.' Not to vilify corporations. There isn't a CEO today who wouldn't tell you he or she desperately wants a diverse workforce. And there isn't a global company that hasn't devoted signi"cant resources to achieving that end.

But deeply entrenched biases persist in society, and many corporations re"ect that by remaining most advantageous to the careers of those whom some executives might call traditionally corporate. As one AfricanAmerican senior executive puts it, "Hiring managers are often uncomfortable based simply on a lack of familiarity. They want to associate with people like them."

This doesn't put you out of corporate competition, it just starts you behind. And the only way we know to overcome that is with sheer, unbridled competence.

Because more than anything else, companies want to win. So, while your performance may take longer to be rewarded, if you consistently deliver great results, eventually you'll wear doubters down. They'll come to need you too much.

Is this system fair? Of course not.

Although we both have bene"ted from it to some extent, we have seen its inequities and the toll it can take on personal dignity.

We've seen it make too many people feel disenfranchised. We've seen it make too many leave. And indeed, that's a viable alternative for you. Many younger companies . . . think Google and eBay . . . do not have the same diversity issues as traditional corporations. Or you can go it alone: the economy is "lled with businesses started by 'uncorporate' people who didn't want to wait for a bunch of middleaged white men in suits to decide they were worth something. You can't blame them.

But we wouldn't advise you to ditch a traditional corporate career.

The vast majority of companies are intensely trying to achieve inclusiveness. And corporations do offer immense opportunity for professional and personal growth.

Perhaps most rewarding, you can use your platform to bring in and nurture other 'different' people like you, making the corporation and the world all the better for it.

So don't give up. If you feel you can survive the corporate journey with your sense of humour and humanity intact, know that your performance can ultimately get you to the top of the mountain. Just be prepared for a harder climb.

Jack and Suzy Welch are the authors of the international best-seller Winning. You can email them questions at Winning@nytimes. com.