Words matter, and they reveal a lot about the people who use them. At least, that’s what I’ve always thought.

Cracks me up that places like BCG and Accenture refer to consultants as “the professionals” and administrative folks as “support staff.” The former implies that only the consultants are actually professional. Any consultant with a few years’ experience has plenty of stories of unprofessional colleagues, and of impressively poised support staff.

Using “Consulting Team” and “Administrative Team” at least begins to give everyone the respect they deserve.