Beating Corporate Flunkies at the Name Game
Crystal posted this on March 6, 2008
It’s unavoidable. You’ll be attending a conference or seminar and be introduced to a “Director of East Coast Operations”, a “Vice President of Development, United States”, or a “CEO of Everything, Everywhere”.
So what do you, Master of Your Own Microbusiness, introduce yourself as?
Who the heck are ya?
You own your business, but doesn’t “Owner” sound inactive? “Owner” sounds like the business belongs to you but you don’t actually do anything—which is way far from the truth.
If you’re a solopreneur (like me) you’re doing it mostly by yourself. Does that mean you get all 27 job titles from Secretary to CEO, or do you have to settle on just one? You do all the work and get all the credit (and all the blame), but there’s no sensible way to put 27 roles on a business card.
And maybe it’s silly to play the Name Game at all, but what’s wrong with wanting a title that does more than proclaim you’re top dog in a one-person business—now THAT’S silly. How can you be “Director” when there’s no one else to direct?
So really, who the heck are ya?
One day my ex, a recreation facilitator, gave himself the subtitle “Director of Continuous Improvement”. A motivational speaker gave him the idea, saying that a job title should be more than what your business leaders have assigned you to do—it should be what you actually do.
That could be interpreted as living up to one’s given job description, but my ex took the extra step of assigning himself a new title that became his promise to keep. Whenever something needed fixing, he took it on and moved his department (and himself) forward with every task.
You’re a WHAT?
A “promising” title was great for his inner motivation and there was a notable impact on other folks, too. When he began introducing himself to customers and colleagues with both titles, a very cool thing happened…
Their eyes would glaze over when they heard “I’m the Recreation Facilitator”, but they were restored to avid interest on hearing “…and Director of Continuous Improvement”. People would respond with questions like: What’s that? How do you do that? You’re a WHAT? that inevitably started interesting—and interested—conversations that led to new business and/or contacts.
Oh! So you’re a…
So when you consider what you actually do for a living, what would be a compellingly accurate job title for you? I started calling Christine, my business coach, “Queen of the Nudge” because I can count on her to gently motivate me into keeping the promises I’ve made to myself. Let’s see if she puts it on her business card…
I chose “Digital Curator” for myself after reading an article on the value of recommendations. It perfectly encapsulates my self-assigned task to search, sift, sort, and share the best of what I find on the Web.
And what about you?
Are you a premier dog groomer who is really a “Queen of Canine Confidence”, or maybe a save-the-day computer technician who is actually a “Network Support Superhero”?
Take a moment to write down the valuable things your service or products bring to the world. From that list, compose a title that portrays your singular gift, makes a promise to your customers and clients, and will jumpstart an interesting-and-interested conversation.
Which is so much better than being a corporate “Vice President”, “Director”, or even “CEO”…they’re stuck with names, roles, and tasks assigned by others, but you’ve got your own business and are free to be and act and do as you like.
Tagged with: entrepreneur · identity · pep talk · solopreneur
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4 Responses to “Beating Corporate Flunkies at the Name Game”
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Thanks for the kick in the butt – this has me really thinking now. As a marketing-savvy graphic designer, using “owner” or president sounds so passive, so removed from the core of the business. Even using “creative director” or “art director” is familiar enough that it might prevent a valuable follow-up conversation. I’m now going to think in terms of a provocative new title, but one I can comfortably live with.
Bruce — So glad I could give a gear-turning butt kick! When you uncover the new title, do come back and share it with us?
Looking forward to it,
Crystal
ps: sorry for the delayed reply, semester’s end is always disconcerting…
I called myself Owner/Designer for a long time - and then I noticed that everybody calls themselves that. So I changed it to Collar Guru and I get SO much more interest from people who would probably glaze over at the owner/designer description. Who cares if people think it is silly, it makes me smile!
@Alisha
Now THAT is a cool name, and it made me smile too! And it worked: I thought “Erh?” and went straight to your website to see what a “Collar Guru” was all about.
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