It’s common to see people spout some version of “How dare any group try to maximize it’s leverage!” With an implicit that I am not part of. People leverage a wide range of subtle interactions to their advantage. From shared national, ethnic, religious, or even educational background to good looks and height. It’s easy to point to any of them as being unacceptable. However, while they can be minimized, I don’t think this stuff is going away.

What’s interesting is the knock on effects as these interactions get internalized into culture. Working out to maximize attractiveness, especially while networking, just becomes part of climbing the corporate ladder.