“Nothing strengthens authority as much as silence”

(Leonardo Da Vinci).

Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Angus Deaton has launched a 5-year, £2.5 million study aimed at understanding inequality in terms not just of income, but also of health, wealth and opportunity (see The IFS Deaton Review).  It’s an ambitious project, the breadth and depth of which have never yet been seen

Speaking about it Sir Angus referred to the phrase, “rent seeking” meaning getting rich from taking, not making.

Rent-seeking.  An apt notion perhaps for the workplace?  Especially for its leaders.  You know the sort I mean?  Those who, for example, might be doing well based largely on the strength of those around them, those putting forward others’ ideas as their own, and literally, those taking all the effort of their colleagues day in, day out, without giving anything back –no thank you, no praise, no reward, no recognition.

I fear that rent-seeking is alive and well in terms of workplace inequality.  Fortunately I’m not a victim of this – but I know of others who are.  Do you?  And what might you do about that?