Barbara James: Ambitious Business Woman

Barbara James was no-nonsense and all business. She was determined to rise through the ranks of the investment bank where she worked. At 37, she already the youngest vice president in the bank. She was not above doing unethical things to get ahead. She had cheated in her college classes, used boyfriends to get contacts with their well-connected families and get dirt on them, and once she even threatened to accuse a supervisor of sexual harassment if he did not push for her to get a raise and promotion.

One Friday after work, she was to meet with a competing investment bank president for a possible job there. She waited in a hotel bar.

The meeting seemed to go well. She told the president she was willing to share company secrets of her current employer if she could get a much better salary and clearer path up the corporate ladder. After the meeting, she went home.

The weekend came and went, and Barbara's alarm went off at 6 am.