Dear J.T. & Dale: I just got passed over for promotion. I was the most qualified, but the job went to a Hispanic woman. (Upper management has been pushing “diversity.”) The handwriting on the wall is saying go elsewhere, right? — Janine

Dale: First, let me issue a New Jargon Alert: I recently met a man who teaches what used to be called “diversity training” who told me: “We stopped using the word ‘diversity’ because all the old white guys like you assumed that it just meant beating up on them. So now we call it ‘inclusion.’”

J.T.: OK, but back to Janine: Should you leave? Not until you know how the company sees your future playing out with it. Being passed over hurts, but it’s also a great opportunity to have a heart-to-heart with your employers about your future.

Dale: Hold on. First, they have to have a heart. Second, there’s a lot that managers CANNOT say to employees — they fear reverse-discrimination lawsuits almost as much as discrimination lawsuits. (I say “almost” because most people would rather be accused of being too pro-diversity rather than being accused of being racist.)

J.T.: What she can do is tell management that she wants to get promoted and ask for their guidance. If they really care about you, Janine, it will show. If you just get pat answers, that’ll be an answer, too.

Dale: And while nobody is much interested in an old white guy’s view on diversity/inclusion, I can tell you what happens in those closed-door hiring and promotion conversations. Sometimes, the diversity/inclusion pressure is intense, and it’s a matter of choosing the best minority candidate. But that’s rare — the most typical case where minority status comes into play is as a tiebreaker. Sounds painful if you’re not a minority, but remember, it happens only when there’s a tie. The goal is to make sure that you’re the best, in a quantifiable way, one that makes the case for promotion for you and makes management’s decision easy.

Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a professional development specialist and founder of the consulting firm jtodonnell.com. Dale Dauten’s latest book is “(Great) Employees Only: How Gifted Bosses Hire and De-Hire Their Way to Success” (John Wiley & Sons). Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via e-mail, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10019.