Do you ever get this feeling of not getting a shot because of who you are or who you are not, or whether or not you’re in the “in crowd”? Corporate life is often just a clique game where there are “in crowds” and favorites and social hierarchy. There is nepotism, there are groups that spend more time together because of their similarities, their sameness, their shared life experience, their prior relationships, their interests, their upbringing, their beliefs.
Surrounding yourself with people you like is part of life, but at work is where it can create really painful and high-stakes exclusion. Exclusion hurts on an individual level and it also impacts what our societies future looks like.
Favoritism, nepotism, cliques, unspoken fraternities—all come from a good place of good intent (well mostly ha) of wanting to take care of those around you, those who are similar to you, those in your family—but can quickly turn into painful exclusion and discrimination.
Do you ever get this feeling of not getting a shot because of who you are or who you are not, or whether or not you’re in the “in crowd”? Corporate life is often just a clique game where there are “in crowds” and favorites and social hierarchy. There is nepotism, there are groups that spend more time together because of their similarities, their sameness, their shared life experience, their prior relationships, their interests, their upbringing, their beliefs.
Surrounding yourself with people you like is part of life, but at work is where it can create really painful and high-stakes exclusion. Exclusion hurts on an individual level and it also impacts what our societies future looks like.
Favoritism, nepotism, cliques, unspoken fraternities—all come from a good place of good intent (well mostly ha) of wanting to take care of those around you, those who are similar to you, those in your family—but can quickly turn into painful exclusion and discrimination.