I couldn’t agree with you more. Having had the title of “Technical Evangelist” at Microsoft, and “Business Alchemist” at a start up, when I started my own company I named myself Social Media Evangelist.

Show you have passion for what you do. Storyteller used to mean someone who went from village to village spreading knowledge and wisdom. A respected profession.

I’d be proud to have the title of either “Head of Magic” or “Hugger Extraordinaire.” I happen to love creative, unusual titles on business cards — I think they make for great conversation starters and can inspire us to remember what our true role and mission is. I think my ideal title on a business or personal card for me would be “Powerful Positive Force.” Yeah, that would work!

Thank you so much for including me in you post. I had read the same comments and have been meaning to write about it but I am glad and honoured that you beat me too it!

Thanks again

Saul Colt
Head of Magic
FreshBooks

Bleh

So you’re multi-talented, are you? Bit special, eh? That’s great! But take my advice – pick just one title to use.

And because I did that, I ended up doing the same damn thing for years and became known as “the flash guy” despite everything else I could do.

Lame advice all around.

Head of Magic is an interesting one! It certainly sounds mystical. I confess — it even made me smile. But perhaps for the wrong reasons…

Unfortunately, Head of Magicis useless in communicating Saul’s profession without the inside scoop, a five minute chat and a guided join-the-dots between what you say and what you actually mean. And that’s fine, as long as you’re ready to have that same conversation ten thousand times with every new customer or friend that frowns in bewilderment upon reading your card or signature.

At the end of the day, isn’t simple, effective communication what a job title’s all about? Do you really need a fabricated title to convince people of your value and abilities? I recognise that it’s a personal choice, but I don’t think it adds anything but smoke and mirrors. The magic you work should be conveyed in what you do, not what you say you do. Don’t you prefer it when people are clear instead of clever?

Or perhaps I’m wrong. Maybe it’s OK to call yourself The Chief Obfuscator or The Spurious Irrelevance Officer and enjoy the confused looks on peoples’ faces? Perhaps customers revel in the job of sifting through 13 made-up job titles to find the one person who can deal with their enquiry?

No one likes the Dreaded Question (“So, what do you do?”), but I’ve never been convinced that dressing-up your job title is the way to make people warm to you. To me, it just puts another barrier in the way. It’s ok to have fun, but why bother creating a grand illusion when a simple trick still gets a smile?

There’s magic in simplicity too, you know.

I definitely understand your points about simplicity Nick. Perhaps we’re coming from different perspectives on this one because of our contexts.

As a storyteller, titles like Howard’s “Business Alchemist” appeal to me because they say so much in so little. I know that alchemists take seemingly disparate things and make them work together; because of that, I already know what Howard does without having to ask him, even though he doesn’t have a standard title that people recognize.

Part of Saul’s duties is to connect to people, is to get them interested in what he does. He has to connect people to not only his product, but to him. Which is why I think it makes sense for him to “have that same conversation ten thousand times with every new customer or friend.” His job is based on having those conversations. That, in essence, is how he creates his magic.

Like you, I agree that many freelance workers fall into the trap of giving themselves titles just because those titles “sound more exciting” than what they actually do. I have actual friends that continue to call themselves Development Manager or Head of Product Creation when they are really freelance code-monkeys.

I do feel, however, that when it is possible to find a title that describes what you do without limiting yourself to a certain task (like I have found with the term storyteller), it can be used effectively and appropriately.

All that being said, thanks for writing the article Nick. That is the power of the web after all — to be able to engage with each others’ ideas even when we don’t agree with each other. Keep up the great work, I’ve been loving some of the stuff you’ve been posting!

And Lara, you’re definitely a “Powerful Positive Force” in my life. Thanks for always engaging and making me smile.

I think you’re right, Sameer — a ‘storyteller’* and a web developer are naturally going to disagree about the role of a job title; your passion lies in embellishment, semantics, and wordcraft, where my profession falls amongst frameworks, web standards, and precisely-defined code and structure.

It’s great that we can spark some debate and agree to disagree, whilst revelling in our little differences. Thanks for pointing to my post and for sparking up the discussion. I’ve enjoyed the chat; you’ve gained a new subscriber!

* It’s a beautiful term. Call me narrow-minded if you must, but I’ll always associate it more with the likes of true storytellers — the Arthur C. Clarkes, Roald Dahls (check out his breathtaking short stories) and Anton Chekhovs of the world — over web publishers and consultants.

Haha…well you’ve caught me a bit there Nick. Like you, my first association when I think of storytellers are people like Chekhov, David Foster Wallace, and Jhumpa Lahiri. What I love about the term is that it shows that I’m trying to bring classic storytelling (which I’d argue is a bit of a lost art on the web) back to the online realm. Whether I’m successful or not, that remains to be seen.

And of course, in my other life, I do actually participate in oral storytelling and spoken word events across Canada. It’s a bit of a passion of mine, and helps me keep connected to the history of the art form. =)

I agree that unique job titles can be a good conversation starter and I think there’s a sense of empowerment when staff are able to pick what their business card says.

Corporate worlds get way to hung up on job titles. Heck, people move between companies simply for a different title, even though their actual day-to-day work may change very little.

Let a little creativity sneak onto our corporate business cards. So long as people don’t create misleading titles (like claiming they are a CEO when they’re not) then why not let them define the two or three word sound bite about what they do?

Thanks for the comment Guin. Great point about the corporate world getting hung up on titles. I’ve always thought that job titles in general are a bit hokey. When someone asks me what I do, it’s better to tell them what I do and not just give them a title, right?

The next design of my business cards will say “I tell stories” instead of “storyteller.” I think that’s even a more natural launchpad for conversation.

Sameer -

Your post reminds me of Kevin Carroll who used to work with Nike. When he joined the firm he had no job title and no area of responsibility. Nike was so enamoured with him that they just wanted him. Nike felt he would be an empowering force within their organization.

His eventual title: Katalyst.

Like always, keep up the great work. Someday, Malcolm Gladwell may grow up to be just like you….:)

KK

http://kevincarrollkatalyst.com/index.php/blog/about/

Oh wow, hadn’t heard of Kevin Carroll before! Thanks for the heads up…and I love the title of Catalyst (though the K feels a bit kooky to me).

Hahaha…and if I ever do get anywhere close to as good as Gladwell, I’ll be sure to thank people like you Karim. =)