Fascinating! Today I learnt that Americans don’t like the word ‘subordinate’.
I’ve tried using ‘direct report’ or ‘report’ in the past, but it’s not as intuitive, so I got complaints from two readers (an Aussie and a Kiwi). Zero complaints so far from Asians who grew up in Asia.
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Subordinate feels wrong to this Brit too. It carries connotations of being given orders, which is a model of leadership that doesn’t work well with knowledge workers.
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Americans are overly sensitive about hierarchical language.
Part of it is the country’s libertarian drive toward freedom and part is the progressive drive toward equality.
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Oh, I thought they all had a right to bear subordinates, so long as being part of a well-formed militia?
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"my team"
American corporate lingo is basically
"tell me you have people working for you without telling me you have people working for you"
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Team members might include peers! (Same level in the hierarchy, e.g. pretty common in a dual reporting structure)