5 Unexpected Benefits of Creating a Unique Job Title

If you think of a job title, your mind will immediately generate an image of a person doing that job. That person will have a gender. The gender of the person you imagine will have an influence (consciously or unconsciously) of what you think of someone in that role.

Think of a Nurse. Think of a Midwife. Think of an Executive. Think of a Teacher. Think of a Firefighter. Think of a Leader. Think of a CEO*. The gender of the person your mind recalls will be your ‘default’.

Cognitively, it is easy to very quickly dismiss this and think about a female firefighter and a male firefighter. And, let’s be clear the gender debate is no longer limited to male or female.

Your default is still your default.

Judgements and assumptions are made when we consider a person’s job role. Typically, these may include status, position in the organisational hierarchy, what kind of decisions you make, what you do, if you have a team, if you have a Personal Assistant, if you work in an office or outdoors, the skills you have, how you should behave. The list goes on.

Six years ago, I left the world of Corporate and set up my own company. For the past five years I have struggled to clearly articulate what my job is. At networking events, or meeting new people, I used to hate the question “What do you do for a job?” I know it’s meant to generate conversation and connection, however, I used to really struggle to answer it.

If I used the word “Coach” as part of my response then people would go “Oh! You’re a Life Coach”. Or, “Everyone seems to be a coach these days”. Coaching was one aspect of what I did, so I found that title constraining.

My own narrative about gender also used to unconsciously get in my way. At the time, it was a barrier that I had no idea existed. I was raised to be a good girl. A people pleaser. Other unconsciously absorbed so called ‘rules’ included stay quiet. Don’t be disruptive. Don’t challenge the status quo. Be polite. Be nice. It does not matter if you don’t agree, just get on with it. Always smile. Be nice. Don’t argue back. Act like a lady. Don’t show emotion. Do not question authority. Ask for permission.

Follow. The. Rules.

As a result, I was not walking my talk all the time. I was not showing up consistently and I was not speaking my truth out loud.

My liberation came from creating my own unique job title, mainly because nothing else seemed to fit. There wasn’t a role title that defined who I am and what I do, so I created one. Believe me, I tried a few. Coach. Facilitator. Mentor. Gender Diversity and Inclusion Specialist. Subject Matter Expert. None of them seemed to fit.

A made-up job title might seem a bit frivolous and appear like a gimmick but in a light-hearted way I am making a very serious point. ‘Labels’ define us. Labels have a set of rules associated with them. Labels can be limiting or enabling. Labels drive bias and stereotyping.

And still, we (and the world) define each other by a set of labels. These consciously and unconsciously hold us back from being the very best version of ourselves. We see (most) C-Suites dominated by those that have certain labels, and ‘woman’ or ‘female’ are generally not two of the labels that we see represented at the top of our organisations.

Role bias and gender bias are real.

So now, when someone asks me now what I do for a job my response is “I make MsChief for a living”.

My job title, Chief MsChief Maker.

The five benefits that I found of a creating a unique job title are:

1. It transformed my mindset and beliefs to be enabling and empowering.

2. It allows me to truly show up, walk my talk and speak my truth.

3. It removes the labels that drive role bias and gender stereotyping.

4. It opens up a real conversation rather than closing it down. And, I believe we need more real, authentic and honest conversations in the world.

5. Finally, I am no longer defined by a job title, rather my job title is defined by being me.

The truth is, I didn’t really need a new job title. I just needed to give myself permission to be me.

What role bias do you have?

How do you give yourself permission to be you?

*In 2015, there were more men called John (or Jean) running FTSE 100 companies than women. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/06/johns-davids-and-ians-outnumber-female-chief-executives-in-ftse-100