Status Symbols

Women have a status problem at work. At least, that’s how organizational psychologist Alison Fragale sees it.

In her new book, Likeable Badass, the U.N.C. Chapel Hill professor argues that in the corporate world, it feels like “women face a million sources of disadvantage relative to men.” In reality, she says they face two: “a lack of power and a lack of status” — and too often, efforts to elevate women in the workplace have focused on the wrong issue.

“We’ve been focusing on getting women their equitable share of power for a long time, making sure that they’re paid appropriately, that they’re represented at the top levels of organizations,” Dr. Fragale tells us. “And those are important problems that we need to solve, but we all know that we’re not closing the gap as quickly as we should, given that women are as educated as men and are consistently rated as good or better leaders.”

So what can women do to rise up the ranks? Concentrate on building their status, she says. And by status, she’s referring not to a spot on the org chart, but “how much people respect and regard you.” Unfortunately, women in general aren’t automatically granted the same level of status as men, so they’re confronted with the extra challenge in their professional lives of having to build that esteem, Dr. Fragale says.

Throughout her book, Dr. Fragale examines status through a scientific lens, using a psychological concept known as the interpersonal circumplex of person perception. That’s a long, needlessly complex term, but the idea behind it is fairly simple: Personality can be measured across two dimensions — how assertive or submissive someone is, and where they fall between warm or cold. (There are other attributes that get thrown into that mix, too — competence and ambition also fall under the assertive umbrella, and inconsistency and unproductiveness get lumped in with submissiveness.)

According to Dr. Fragale, the people who accrue the most status in a workplace are the ones who rank high in both warmth and assertiveness. Those are the so-called “likeable badasses,” she says. 

To illustrate this, we took the characters from Parks and Recreation and charted them along these two axes. See the upper right hand quadrant, where you can find Leslie Knope? That’s the sweet spot, Dr. Fragale says. 

So how do you become a likeable badass in the office? We spoke to Dr. Fragale to learn science-backed strategies to gaining status and power at work without being a jerk — and her tips are so practical and relatable that they’ll work for anyone, in any office.

Let us know what you think about Dr. Fragale’s likeable badass approach (and whether or not we got the Parks and Rec matrix right) in the comments. 

Want a leg up when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder? Subscribe now for more expert advice from the best in business.