Battle cry against power tripping

Battle cry against power tripping Heres a new word for the workplace: Rankism. File it in your brain next to racism and sexism. And brace yourself for a big change at the office, because rankism is another kind of discrimination we should not tolerate. Whats rankism, or rankist behavior? It is hiring an intern and ignoring her all summer. Or pointlessly yelling at the receptionist about a manager who is late. Or a professor taking credit for a graduate students research. All these are examples of people who think they can treat someone disrespectfully because of their lower rank. The Devil Wears Prada has tons of juicy examples ? as well as snappy fashion and a happy ending to make the story acceptable. But rankist behavior is never acceptable. And Robert Fuller, the man who came up with the word rankism, is on a mission to end it. His big idea is that people have a right to be treated with dignity no matter where they are in the pecking order. Hes part of whats become known as the dignitarian movement. (Hes written two books on this topic: Somebodies and Nobodies and All Rise.) Wondering if youre at a job where youre treated with dignity? You need to receive recognition, humane treatment and a living wage. If your job doesnt qualify, you need to speak up, which is hard to do, but having a word to identify the problem is half the battle. Vocabulary changes thing, says Fuller. The Feminine Mystique referred to the problem without a name. Sexism was not a word until five years after that book came out. Once the word sexism was available women had a weapon to make demands. Fuller wants you to take cues from the success of that movement. Say, Hey, thats rankest, the same way youd say, Thats sexist. But dont yell: Having the words rankist and rankism will give workers in every line of action a battle cry. They wont scream at the top of their lungs. They will mention it calmly and cause the person on top to look at their actions. Here are five more steps you can take to combat rankism in your own work life: 1. Get a good read on potential managers. Management sets the tone of respect or disrespect at work. So sniff out offenders before taking the job. Vanessa Carney works at Lets Dish, a food preparation company. The management team here is genuine, says Carney, The people who run this company have a good attitude and it trickles down. Carney was especially impressed when the owner of the business sat down with her after a few months to find out what, exactly, she wanted to do in her career. 2. Let people know that rankism matters. Probably those behaving this way are not even conscious that theyre doing it. In one study about harassment, most people who were disrespectful were not aware of itthey thought they were making jokes at the time. They are misguided comedians, says study author Catherine Hill, director of research at American Association of University Women. She also found that people respond to what they perceive as cultural norms. So speak up when you see it, even if you are not on either side of the exchange. 3. Dont accept rationales for rankism. Common refrains are This is the only way the business can work, (to justify long and unpredictable hours), or I got through this so you can too, (to justify hazing-like practices). Joanna Vaillant is a management consultant a position known for difficult work conditions. But she did research to find a consulting company that respects its employees: Boston Consulting Group. She recommends talking to people who work in the company about the company. In business school I talked to classmates who worked at different companies, says Vaillant. And she chose well. She recently got married and received assignments that would allow her time and headspace to prepare for that big day. 4. Take a bad job. Working at a low-level job is not just a headache, its an integral part of your personal development. A big barrier to fighting racism and sexism is that if you are white you dont know what its like to be black, and if you are male you dont know what its like to be female. But everyone can work in a low-level job especially in the service industry where the exposure to rankest behavior from customers is huge. 5. Consider leaving. One of the scariest things about demanding change at the workplace is the prospect of getting fired. But young people today those invariably filling up the entry-level positions switch jobs often. So the risk of offending your current boss for speaking out against rankism does not seem that big a deal. The workplace is ripe for eradicating rankism. The youngest workers are optimists about their ability to change the world and passionate about valuing diversity. Also, in poll after poll, young people report less interest in money and more interest in the quality of work and the quality of life work affords. So it makes sense that now is the time for the dignitarian movement, and we should all jump on board.