Over the past 20 years, I’ve had variations on this scenario many times.

Person I Have Just Met: “So, do you go by Elizabeth?”

Me: “Yep!”

This is followed by an awkward pause.

I suspect the reason why is that the expectation is that I’ll genuflect and say, “Oh gosh, please call me Liz/Beth/Lizzie/Eliza/Betty,” and we’ll both feel more comfortable.

Don’t get me wrong: I appreciate that Elizabeth is a name with several variations, and I never mind being asked. What’s astonishing to me is how often I receive emails addressed to “Liz” when the person has never asked me if that’s my nickname.

This achieved political relevance recently. A recent Slate article dove into President Trump, when he’s not insultingly using the term “Pocahontas,” calls Elizabeth Warren “Liz” in tweets. As the author points out, let’s assume Warren and Trump aren’t friends and call each other “Donnie” and “Lizzie” when they run into each other.

Given the president’s proclivity for nicknames, though, it begs the question: What do you call your female employees? Are you inadvertently making them seem childish?

As a skilled nursing executive or clinician, you might roll your eyes and think, “What does it matter? People are so sensitive.” But the case I want to lay before you is that, in business or politics, names can be used as weapons. Witness former Rep. Dave Brat calling his opponent Abigail Spanberger “Nancy Pelosi,” until a moment in a debate (that went viral) when she reminded him what her name was. We could also spend a separate entire column over how cruel it is to deliberately use someone’s “dead name” when they have come out as transgender. I’ve written before about the use of the term “sweetie” in long-term care can infantilize residents.

At a more mundane level, have you been in a board meeting or executive team gathering where someone referred to their subordinate or colleague as “Kim” or “Kimmy” instead of the person’s preferred “Kimberly,” or “Mandy” instead of “Amanda”? While it may be unintentional, in these cases the woman sounds more juvenile. That’s a problem. This may not be an exclusive long-term care issue, but neither is sexism.

In the world of business, from a corporate board room to your unit floor, names reflect power: Who has it and who doesn’t. In an industry working hard to address the challenges facing senior living leaders who are women  — you may have heard of our Women of Distinction program — calling someone by their preferred name reflects a basic level of respect.

It reminds me of a story my mother told me about a school administrator named Elizabeth. For the sake of her privacy, we’ll say her last name is Brown. When she was introduced at a school, her male boss stood up to introduce her in front of 80 people. He talked about “my good friend Liz Brown.” She stood up and smiled graciously, then said witheringly, “My friends call me Elizabeth.”

Follow Senior Editor Elizabeth Newman @TigerELN. You can call her Tiger.