We are too much exposed with rankism and social status that titles need to be superlative and often exaggerated.
Some business coaches insist that your title is important. Their premise is this: People do their job better because in their sub-conscious mind, they feel the need to live up the title embedded to them. In other words, the title says who they are.
I entirely agree with the importance of the job title, but not in a way that misled not only the title-bearer, but also the person he/she is dealing with, e.g. a client or a prospect.
An example
We put too much emphasis on our superlative and exaggerated job title, in a way that titles are becoming confusing and ambiguous, if not lame and tired. Consider this example:
Marketing Executive : Classic and powerful. Unfortunately, many companies use the title to be embedded to a job description that actually says marketing staff.
Here’s what Wikipedia says about Executive: “While executive officer literally refers to a person responsible for the performance of duties involved in running an organization, the exact meaning of the role is variable, depending on the organization.”
The definition would actually make each person working for a company an Executive. In other words, Marketing Executive is an ambiguous title, thus ineffective in business networking.
Of course, not all superlative-sounding titles are exaggerated; there are some exceptions – Many titles are used to describe people as they are: President, King, Mayor, Sir, Doctor, Judge and many more. But many others, especially in business world, are simply ineffective.
How to title yourself that can transform you into an interesting person (and helps you to convert more)
Today is the day of smart job titles. I have seen many business owners and entrepreneurs title themselves in such a smart way, that it gives the bearer more “interestingness” that will eventually help them in business networking, and eventually in converting more contacts into clients or customers. A couple of examples:
Flame thrower: The first time I read the title of this person, I thought he involved in entertainment business. Actually, the person is a prosecutor of a law firm. A bit exaggerated, but very smart and interesting title.
Noodle seller: In the original words, this title is even more catchy. This is a title of an entrepreneur (in my home country) that own a restaurant chain with multi-million dollar annual revenue.
All in all, your business culture describes who you are
The way you build your business will determine your business culture. If you build your business based on subtle rankism (as intended or not), you will attract employees that value the job title as more social status than a job description. Again, nothing wrong with this, it just a matter of perception and vision.
As of for me, I would call my self a noobpreneur :D How about you? Do you have any interesting titles to share?
Ivan Widjaya
Noobpreneur