Mardi Humphreys

The First Step

The glass ceiling is cracking thanks to so many women beating our heads against it. The light filtering through these cracks reveals that the ladder we’re climbing to get there has a broken rung.

What is it?

At the beginning of 2020, for every 100 men who stepped onto the corporate ladder by accepting their first role as a manager, only 85 women were hired and/or promoted from individual contributor to manager. That statistic refers to white women; the statistics for Black women and Latinas are even worse. The first rung on the corporate ladder is broken for women and it has a negative effect on our talent pipeline. While more women are getting hired for senior management, there aren’t enough at junior management levels to promote. This lack of diversity in management denies our organizations an array of ideas, input, and solutions which adversely affects our bottom lines.

Why Does it Happen?

Women are subject to unconscious gender bias. Adapting to work during COVID-19 has awakened us a bit. Who hasn’t been on a Zoom call where someone (male or female) commented on a female coworker’s children playing in the background? When schools went online and daycares shuttered for months, working moms took on the majority of both housework and childcare. The statistics are worse for single moms and moms of color. Because of the pandemic, over two million women are considering an extensive leave of absence or even leaving the workforce. This makes the broken rung even harder to repair.

How Do We Fix It?

Continuous Development – Women need skills including strategic thinking and negotiation to level the playing field. If your company doesn’t have an official leadership development program, find your own. It’s a good investment of your T.E.A.M.

Get a Mentor – If your company does not offer an official mentoring program, seek one outside the company. Research shows mentees were promoted five times more than an employee who didn’t have a mentor.

Network – Collect people: mentors, coaches, sponsors, peers. A support network makes it 2.5 times more likely you’ll be seen as a high performer and ready for advancement.

Visibility – Share what you’re learning in leadership development with your manager during your 1:1s. Forward reference materials to colleagues and copy your manager. Bring up your development plan during reviews. Post about your progress on LinkedIn. Let the world know you’re taking responsibility for your growth and are ready to serve as a leader.

Stand up for Yourself – If you get passed over for promotion, ask why. Your manager should give you clear feedback regarding what you lack. If you feel the suggestions are vague, press for specifics. Is it a skill? Learn it. Is it not enough experience? Ask your manager to give you assignments that will help you gain it. Make these your immediate goals and achieve them before your next promotion attempt. Keep your manager apprised of your progress.

Have you experienced unconscious gender bias? How did you call attention to it? Have you ever been unconsciously gender biased? What are you doing to be more aware? Please share in the comments.

More Precious Than Gold

In a former life, I volunteered as a worship leader in the elementary ministry at a church in south metro Atlanta. (Fun fact: if you can motivate 5th grade boys to participate in worship, you can do anything.) At every service, we quoted our bullet-pointed mission statement. One of those bullets was The Golden Rule (TGR): Treat others the way you want to be treated. Flash forward to the present where a flaw in logic has reached my attention. TGR assumes others want to be treated the way I want to be treated. You know what assuming does (if not, DM me). Turns out, there is a better rule to follow: The Platinum Rule (TPR). It says: Treat others the way they want to be treated. How can following TPR help you interact with your work team?

Everyone has a unique personality, but a few common traits dominate. When you identify those traits, you can predict how to both communicate with colleagues and motivate them to do their best work. How do you find out how people want to be treated? First, you have to know your own behavioral style so you can adjust it to build rapport with those different from yours. Then, you can ask, observe, and experiment.

Ask

If you’re a manager, what are your direct reports’ goals, motivations, values, and learning styles? You can find out by having them take a personality assessment (DISC, CliftonStrengths, Ennegram, Meyers-Briggs, etc., there are a ton). The resulting data helps you better tailor employee incentives. For example, If money motivates Jack, giving him a raise should make him more productive. But, if Jill is motivated by a flexible schedule, giving her a four-day work week instead of a raise would make her more productive.

Observe

Identify a coworker who follows TGR. They are treating you the way they want to be treated. (Mind. Blown.) Look for patterns and habits. What is their vocabulary like? Do they openly share their feelings? Do they dress casually or more suit and tie? How is their workspace designed? Interact with them in various environments: meetings, social situations, continuing education training. For example: In a brainstorming meeting, who likes to throw all kinds of ideas out for group discussion and who likes to sit quietly and process one idea at a time?

Experiment

Make note of how your manager responds to public praise, a thank-you note, or when you make time for a huddle they request. Ask questions like,“Would you rather this conversation be a meeting or an email?” and “When you’re doing deep work will you turn your IM to Do Not Disturb so I know not to bother you, please?” Try different communication mediums and notice which they reply to the quickest: Email? Phone call? Text? IM? Video chat? In conversation, mirror their non-verbal cues. Do they relax? When you make people comfortable, they know, like, and trust you faster.

TPR requires more work than TGR, and brings more reward. TGR is easy because we know what we like, but for building relationships, TPR is better. How do you want to be treated? Please share in the comments.

You’re Asking For It

Our daughter called to tell us that a high-profile initiative she discovered and shepherded right up to the president of the international company’s office was approved. We celebrated then asked if this could lead to a promotion. She reminded us she was promoted in the last round of reviews and no one receives consecutive promotions. I suggested that may be because no one brings this level of business development to the company until now. (You expect her mother to say that, right?) Our conversation reminded me how difficult it can be to ask for promotion.

Problem

Society conditions us to believe our work should speak for itself and our employer will automatically reward us. Your manager’s job description may include developing you professionally, but they don’t have time to ask themselves, “Did my direct reports do anything promotion worthy today?” You are in charge of your future. If you’re doing next level work, you deserve promotion. Just because it’s not normal doesn’t mean you shouldn’t discuss it with your manager. You may be a catalyst for change.

Solution

Study the job description of the position you want. Do and document that next level work (especially your successes), then ask for the promotion at the appropriate time. Prepare for it by answering these questions:

Who profits from it? Promotion has to benefit your team, manager, other departments, the company, your clients, and you. What do others gain from your promotion? Leadership? Loyalty? Labor? Are other people going for this promotion? What makes you different? Do you have more: Certifications? Creativity? Connections? Be prepared to address how you’ll arrange handing off clients, working with teammates who may be jealous, and prioritizing multiple projects.

What have you done to earn it? Know the metrics by which your job performance is measured and track them weekly, quarterly, and yearly. Use this data to quickly and easily build your case. For example: How much money did you save the company? How much revenue did you bring in? How innovative is your solution to a perpetual challenge? What are your department’s KPIs?

When is the best time to ask for it? Traditionally, formal annual job performance reviews are the best time to present your case. If your company evaluates more frequently, don’t let receiving a promotion last time stop you from asking for another this time. If your company doesn’t do annual reviews, request one. You need to know at least every 365 days if you’re doing the quality of work that leads to promotion.

Why should you get it? Think of the objections your manager may raise and prepare for them. For example: Objection: No one receives consecutive promotions. Your Answer: No one brings this level of innovation to the company. Know your company’s top goals. Explain what you did to move the organization toward them using specific illustrations from your data.

How should you ask for it?

Do:

Act confident – make eye contact, sit up straight on the edge of the chair, speak in a conversational tone of voice
Control your emotions – if you feel nervous, convince yourself you’re excited
Be positive – you’re offering your manager the opportunity to shine by recognizing a rising star when they see one

Don’t:

Apologize – you aren’t imposing on your manager; your professional development is part of their job
Give your manager an out – Example: “Maybe this isn’t a good time, but…”
Play the victim – Example: “I need this promotion because (insert personal problem here)”

Result

If you receive the promotion by the end of the discussion, congratulations! But, don’t be stressed if you get a cliffhanger. It’s a good sign when your manager wants to contemplate your case instead of immediately saying no. If this happens, follow up in a week’s time. If you’re denied promotion, ask why. Is this a bad time for the company? Schedule a follow-up meeting for next quarter. Is there something lacking in your current job performance you need to work on (e.g., emotional intelligence, project management, leading a team)? Ask for projects showcasing those abilities. Do you lack the skills or certifications required for promotion? Set goals to obtain them. At the very least, this conversation makes your manager aware of your desire to contribute at a higher level.

What do you think is the most challenging aspect of asking for a promotion? Please share in the comments.

Let the Sun Shine

Daylight Savings Time is upon us and I am not a fan. The pessimist in me thinks, “What’s one more hour of lost sleep after all the hours I’ve lost thanks to COVID-19?” The optimist in me thinks, “Yay! Spring!” Since we can’t control time, let’s concentrate on saving something we can control: money. Our financial goals fluctuate with the seasons of our lives, but we sleep better if saving is always one of them. Here are three rules of thumb that give me financial peace of mind: live within your means, fund your future, and be generous.

Live Within Your Means

I’ll state the obvious. Make more money than you spend. Having said that, there are some maybe not-so-obvious ways to save more of your means. Do you use a cell phone? Internet? Cable TV? Satellite TV? Can you live without one of these? If not, are you getting the best plan for your budget? You can check and adjust accordingly. Finding a cheaper plan doesn’t necessarily mean you have to switch providers. You can contact your current one and ask them to match their competitor’s rates. Do you use a travel rewards credit card? If earning points for travel no longer fits your lifestyle, switch to a card that does. For example, while you may not be traveling as much right now, you’re still buying gas and groceries. Switch to a credit card with cash back rewards for those purchases.

Fund Your Future

If you’re getting a tax refund of more than $2000 (the average refund for 2019 was $2535), consider filling out a new W-4 with your employer to have less tax deducted. Some tax payers I know purposely overpay income tax so they’ll receive large refunds. They use the money to pay for big ticket items, and that is a choice. Another choice is a short-term savings strategy for big ticket items. For example, direct depositing that extra amount into a high-yield savings account instead of overpaying income taxes. A tax refund check seems like free money. It’s actually money you give the government every month, it uses for a year (interest free, btw), then finally allows you to have what’s left. If that money stays in your paycheck, you have the option to invest it in your employer’s 401(k) plan, or your personal IRA, or another long-term savings option. This both removes the temptation to spend the money, and invests it for your future.

Be Generous

You feel good when you help others. Think about how good Ebeneezer Scrooge felt when he was generous with his money. But you don’t have to give money to be generous. For example, when your grocery has non-perishable items on sale and you have coupons, buy the limit, keep a couple for yourself and donate the rest to a local food pantry. Do you have clothes you haven’t worn for two years? (Not wearing them in 2020 doesn’t count.) Bag them up and donate them to your local thrift store. When you don’t have a lot of money, you still have something to give; even if it’s just giving a smile to a stranger; with our eyes, because, you know, mask. Our abundance isn’t always measured in money.

What do you do to maintain financial peace of mind? Please share in the comments.

A Matter of Trust

**Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels**

This is the last article of the series Know, Like, Trust. If you missed the first two, you can find them here and here. I saved trust for last because it’s pretty hard to achieve without the other two. Let’s say a Potential Client (PC) knows and likes us. Now, how can we earn their trust?

Respect

Becoming known and liked can happen relatively quickly, but trust doesn’t. It takes time to demonstrate integrity, dependability, and consistency. PCs trust our companies after they trust us as people. We need to accurately represent what our companies stand for and broadcast those core values through multiple communication channels. We should be prepared to answer frequently asked questions like:

Can your company really do what you say it can? We’re able to answer this with a testimonial page on our companies’ websites.
Do you really want to help my business succeed? We prove this by sharing our PCs’ “We’re Hiring!” posts on our companies’ social media platforms.
Are we like-minded in our values? We affirm this with a how-we-help statement in every employees’ elevator speech.

We know we’re earning our PCs’ trust when they begin liking, commenting on, and/or sharing our social media content. Sharing is especially exciting. It indicates our PCs are engaging with, endorsing, and embracing our companies’ value-driven content.

Realign

The biggest mistake we make in communication is assuming it has happened. Paraphrasing what our PCs said, reflecting it back, and repeating the process until we verify we heard correctly, demonstrates we not only want to understand the problems, but we are also actively listening. Initially, this exercise is time consuming, but realigning our communication style to our PCs’ streamlines the process for future conversations. Being in accord with our PCs is crucial when it’s time to address sensitive issues. For example, how we will handle our PCs’ customers’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

Resource

After all this work, we may discover we aren’t the best solution for a PC. Our role then becomes connecting them to someone who is, because we are in relationship with our PCs for the life of their businesses. We demonstrate both trust and courage when we offer, “What you need isn’t what we’re best at, but I know someone who is.” It’s important to have an established network of colleagues we know, like, and trust to partner with so when this happens, we’re ready to refer them. It not only solves our PCs’ current problem, but also sets us up as the future go-to, trouble-shooting resource. When our PCs’ next crises strikes, we will be the first people they reach out to for help. Referrals build trust between all businesses involved in reaching solutions. People love to connect people they trust to one another. When we pay it forward, our colleagues feel obliged to repay in kind by connecting us with one of their PCs whose problem we can better solve. The loyalty these relationships inspire can help everyone’s companies grow exponentially. When our PCs trust us, they want to keep collaborating with us. Who doesn’t want to work with someone who solves their problems?

What do you do to prove your trustworthiness to PCs? Please share in the comments.

What’s Not to Like?

Welcome to part two of the three part series: Know, Like, Trust. Last week we discussed how we want to be known. This week we’re talking about the importance of being liked. It reminds me of Sally Field accepting her Oscar for Places in the Heart. How can we attractively communicate both our values and our value propositions?

Make an Effort

Potential clients (PCs) work with individual problem solvers, not faceless companies. For example, let’s say you chose a primary care physician based on their affiliation with a hospital you like. During your appointment you have a bad experience with either the physician, nurse, tech, or front desk staff. You don’t go back because there are plenty of other physicians associated with the hospital you like. It’s a similar experience for our PCs. They want to know the people who represent our companies. They can only discern so much from success story pages on our websites, automated emails dripped into their inboxes, and video sales pitches. We have to make and maintain authentic, reciprocal relationships if we want glowing recommendations, positive reviews, quality referrals, and repeat business. These are the ingredients that protect our bottom lines. It takes a ton of energy to put the work into every interaction, every day. But, if we give PCs reasons to like us, (e.g., positive comments on their LinkedIn posts, an emailed link to an event you think they’ll enjoy, etc.) they will.

Be Approachable

Even if we don’t say the following sentences aloud, PCs can easily detect negative attitudes like:

Authoritative – “I’m smarter than you.”
Aloof – “I’m too cool for you.”
Abrupt – “I don’t have time for you.”

PCs open their lives to us. They’re considering using us as a resource to meet their needs at a time when they feel vulnerable. In conversations with us they’re wondering:

Is she listening to me?
Does she care how much pain I’m in?
Do her questions help me order my thoughts?
Are her illustrations relevant?
Is she just trying to make a sale?
After I purchase this, will she follow up to see if the solution worked?
If something goes wrong, can I count on her to fix it?
Does she have the best interest of my business at heart?

A good consultant is authentic, curious, and honest. To have a friend, you first have to be one.

Care

Best practice is offering our PCs space to unload the emotional baggage their problems have packed. To be liked, we have to care about their pain. Active listening is a great tool to demonstrate how much we care. Active listening requires more than our ears. It takes our:

Brains: How would we feel if we had this problem?
Eyes: What non-verbals do we observe (e.g., furrowed brow, crossed arms)?
Hands: We take notes both to prevent ourselves from interrupting and so we don’t forget the response forming in our heads.

PCs need partners they can count on, who are strong in the areas of their businesses where they are weak, and to come alongside them with the tools to grow their businesses. We want to form a team. Because when businesses support one another, everyone on the team wins.

When we make the effort to be approachable and to care, people like us. This is how businesses are sustained. This is how communities are built. What do you do to get PCs to like you? Please share your tips in the comments.

Knowing Me, Knowing You

Even though Presidents’ Day honors all U.S. presidents, we usually focus on celebrating George Washington and Abraham Lincoln; holding them up as examples of honesty and integrity. They aren’t remembered as salesmen, but wouldn’t you have to be an excellent salesperson to lead a country through war? The hallmark of a good salesperson is being known, liked, and trusted. Discussing all three would be lengthy, so let’s take the next three weeks to break them down. First up, how do we want to be known?

What They Know

Before the internet was born, consumers had to rely on a salesperson to learn about a product or service. If they were lucky, they had friends who used it and could ask them about their experiences. Even here in the digital age, recommendations, word of mouth, and reviews are the most trusted facets of marketing. In terms of information availability, we’re on a level playing field with our customers. People can quickly and easily fact check the stories marketers tell them, and they expect sincerity from everyone: big corporations, small businesses, healthcare providers, higher education, etc. Consumers don’t want to waste time listening to our sales pitch when they can go online and find out all they want to know about us with a quick search. Businesses can no longer put up a front. We can’t say we prize a certain value then behave like we don’t. Thanks to social media, there are no secrets. Customers have the power and they know it. Ignoring that fact makes us tone deaf, so our outreach should reflect our respect. People want to purchase from businesses that share their beliefs. We have to state ours in our media messaging, then live up to them every day. For example, if a company says they are earth-friendly, but 25% of their product includes petroleum-based ingredients, they will get backlash. People notice when we don’t mean what we say, and they remember when it comes time to purchase.

What We Want Them to Know

Not practicing what we preach leads not only to customers mistrusting the product, but also mistrusting the company and its employees; especially its sales force. People are smart and self-interest is obvious. They want to know the company they give their hard-earned money to is worthy of their trust, and we want to be that company. We get to know each other through conversation and connection. We need to answer the questions they aren’t necessarily asking, but we can see on their faces: Is this business ethical? Reliable? Transparent? Genuine? Honest? Does their representative seem different in person than her online presence portrays? Why does she work for this company? For example, I see people in pain and I’m driven to relieve it. The company I work for is in the IT space. Everyone has data. Eventually, managing it becomes cumbersome, especially for SMBs. My company gives me the freedom to relieve those burdens. As a result, I don’t see potential conquests. I see colleagues with challenges I can help solve.

What’s in it for me? A rising tide floats all boats. If they succeed, I do too. Am I a nice person? Yes. Do I need to make a living? Yes. Are these two goals mutually exclusive? No.

Does the public have the impression of your business you want them to have? Please share in the comments.

Spread the Love

Sure, Valentine’s Day is a Hallmark holiday, and you can choose to spend it drinking your favorite adult beverage and watching The Notebook. AGAIN. But, consider using the occasion to spread love outside of your circle. We’re programmed to give back to our communities around the holiday season, but people are in need all year round (especially 11 months into the pandemic). We can still spoil those closest to us, but what can we do to spread some love to the rest of the world?

Friends

If you’re purchasing a gift online, consider using Amazon Smile. They donate 0.5% of eligible sales to the charitable organization you choose without adding that charge to your bill. Does your town have locally owned small businesses like: a coffee roaster, chocolatier, florist, locally-themed speciality gift shop, bakery, and/or book store? You can fill gift baskets with goodies purchased from some of these shops and drop them off on your friends’ porches. If you’re pressed for time, you could send them valentine cards with gift cards from locally owned restaurants enclosed, or memberships to a local art museum, science museum, zoo, or historical park. If you have the option to do this online and save a tree in the process, bonus love!

Neighbors

Since giving your time is still complicated right now due to COVID-19 restrictions, it’s difficult to spread the love in your own hometown by serving meals to guests at a homeless shelter, helping students with homework at a public library, or playing checkers with residents at a nursing home. Instead, you can give money to a local charity that feeds people, one that provides online homework help, or one that cares for senior adults. You could order a few dozen donuts from a local donut shop and use a food delivery service to take them to your local fire station. You could donate money to a local natural disaster relief fund. You don’t have to spend money to give back. You can smile and say thank you to the mail carrier, the driver who delivers your food order, the grocery employee who puts your pick up order in your trunk, the barista who hands you your latte at the drive-thru. Unless your mask is transparent, they won’t see your mouth smile, but they will see it in your eyes.

Strangers

Remember exchanging valentines in elementary school? You brought in tiny cards, candy, pencils, etc. to give everyone in your class. Kids in the hospital can’t exchange valentines. Check with your local Children’s Hospital. Candy, pencils, and trinkets are probably prohibited, but would they accept unopened boxes of Valentine’s Day exchange cards? They may have volunteers willing to observe COVID-19 protocol and distribute them. Looking for other ways to give to strangers? Send a care package to a military service member. Donate blood. Register to become an organ donor. Drop off unopened bags of pet food at your local animal shelter. Create a fundraiser on Facebook.

How do you plan to be generous this Valentine’s Day? Please share in the comments.

Resume Refresh

Multiple companies in my networking groups are hiring and there are a plethora of position postings on my social media platforms. Sufferin’ Succotash! This seems to be a hint to update our resumes.

Then and Now

When our grandparents first entered the workforce, they looked through newspaper help-wanted ads, typed up a resume and cover letter, mailed it to the hiring company, and waited by their rotary phones to be called in for an interview. Technology has exponentially streamlined the job hunt. Networking is a major factor, but that is another post for another day.

Individualize

Best practice is to get your resume into the email of an ally who will personally forward it with a recommendation to the hiring manger. If you must use a job search website, (Indeed, Monster, etc.) be prepared to sift through scads of subcategories using keywords to drill down through their specializations and/or certifications. Edit your resume to match the job descriptions of the returned results. It takes a lot of attention, but tailoring your resume to fit each position you apply for is essential.

Short is Sweet

Your resume is an advertisement enticing recruiters to call you for interviews, so leave them wanting more. It shouldn’t be longer than two pages and one is preferable. If you need to cut something, make it the reference section; save those for the interview. Only list your job history for the past 10 years unless the experience you gained is crucial to the job for which you’re applying. If the applicant tracking system (ATS) doesn’t force you to list beginning and ending dates of past employment, omit them. As for hard copies, if you aren’t Elle Woods, stick to black font on white paper. Proofread your resume multiple times before hitting send. Have a friend proofread it. Read it out loud. Print it off and read it. Let it sit for an hour, then go back and read it again.

By the Numbers

Hiring managers want to see you’ve either made your employers money or saved it, so quantify your accomplishments when possible. For example, “My outreach efforts increased my company’s revenue by 3% last year,” or “I initiated the move to an online fax service saving my company about $2000 by not purchasing paper and ink.”

Hello SEO

Even if you have an ally in the company campaigning for your hire, you’ll likely still have to apply for the position on the company’s website. The ATS scans your resume looking for keywords from the job description. Match your skills to the role using the words they use. For example, if the job description says, “Fluent in Spanish,” make sure those exact words are on your resume.

Entry-Level Irony

Many jobs require experience, even for entry level positions. Experience you gained as a volunteer counts. Were you the president of your fraternity? Did you manage a household budget for five people? Have you moved your local animal shelter’s donor information records from spreadsheets to a CRM? You can also showcase your soft skills. List examples of problem-solving, communication, and/or teamwork.

LinkedIn Better

Yes, I just used LinkedIn as a verb. LinkedIn is an interactive resume and interview combined and on steroids. It’s one of the main resources recruiters use to vet candidates, so be sure to put your LinkedIn URL on your resume. Audit your LinkedIn profile. Invest in a good headshot. Follow companies you want to work for and look at the marketing or sales employees’ profiles. Model yours after theirs (e.g., add appropriate keywords from their headlines to yours) so their recruiters can find you. Start a conversation: congratulate them for an award they won, thank them for posting an insightful article, or mention a non-profit you both support.

Have you updated your resume lately? Please share your suggestions in the comments.

Entitled?

We may be at the tipping point for unusual job titles. Wizard of Lightbulb Moments, Problem Wrangler, and Creator of Happiness are a few I’ve seen lately. Full disclosure: my title is Change Agent. Working for a small business, I’m a Jack of All Trades, but that’s too long for a business card (my suggestion of Cat Herder was also rejected). Job titles are tricky. For example, when I was an Administrative Assistant, sometimes I was called Secretary. Oddly, no one ever asked me what cabinet post I held in the United States government. There are three categories of people to consider when choosing a job title: our organization, outsiders, and ourselves.

Organization

Titles can indicate the level of respect the organization assigns the job. For instance, employees at Disney Parks and Disney Stores are Cast Members. But, titles shouldn’t be inflated. For example, is a Janitor really a Sanitation Engineer? The company respects the employee, but finds the actual work of little value. When the work is respected, the title matters less.

Inflated job titles may boost an employee’s ego, but cost an organization credibility with clients. (Can you really make Senior Vice President at 23 years old?) Some companies use job titles to mark career paths (e.g., Associate to Manager to Director to VP), but internal level designations accompanied by clear goals and reporting structure (e.g., Level 1 is entry-level reporting to a department manager) may be better. Eliminating titles can force a company to get very specific about job descriptions and their commensurate compensation.

Some coworkers look at titles when choosing team members for collaboration. This can backfire if they choose to work with someone because she has Manager in her title instead of choosing someone with a lesser title, but who has a reputation for getting things done.

Outsiders

Generic titles (e.g., Sales Manager) don’t accurately reflect the holder’s combination of skills which should be changing at the pace of the technology they use. But, assigning titles to reflect an organization’s culture (e.g., Database Ninja) runs the risk of setting up communication barriers with potential clients. Scrum Master is a real job, but people outside the IT industry may not know what a Scrum Master does and feel too embarrassed to ask.

Our job titles influence future opportunities. They not only state what we do for the organization in a few words, they also reflect our position in the organization. For example, Media Associate is a more junior role than Media Manager. Stakeholders may feel more important working with a manager than with an associate.

Hiring managers also look for these distinctions. Progressive job titles (Associate, Manager, Director) in the same industry signal growth (learning and leadership). Titles may not matter at our current jobs, but if we look for another it will. We should consider including SEO keywords in our job titles so talent recruiters can find us.

Ourselves

Job titles provide social status. They can make us feel good about ourselves even when a fancy title (e.g. Senior Account Manager) is not attached to big money.

A title should both reflect what we do and how much responsibility we have. For example, a VP of Marketing will have more responsibility and experience than a Marketing Assistant but, inflating our job titles is dangerous. If we get hired to do something we say we can do, but really can’t, it not only damages our reputations, but also wastes both the hiring organization’s energy and our own.

How do you craft a job title that accurately and immediately represents what you do? Please share in the comments.