The Title Trauma

This incident happened to a friend of mine.  His production in-charge was due for a raise and review.  The manager insisted that irrespective of the rise in salary, he now wanted the post of “President - Operations”.

The fact of the matter is that he was the boss of the department.  He has two assistants and then there were the labor.  The fellow had joined my friend's  organization by retiring from the post of “Vice -President” and so he wanted to look good on the resume by an apparent "President" Title.

Here is the issue.  Why are these executives crazy about the post titles?  I am not planning to throw a Robin Sharma on you here with this question. I would like to approach it differently.

An executive is a person who, by virtue of his knowledge, skill, or capacity, contributes in such a way that he or she positively affects the capacity of the organization to perform and to obtain results.  In this sense, just about every person is potentially an executive.  There may be some who approach their task in a lackadaisical manner but let’s leave them aside.

A higher title in an organizational hierarchy must result into an enhanced potential for strategic decision making – and the person must be equipped to take those decisions better than anyone else suitable  for the job.  The higher title must have more latitude and be more empowering.  Under these conditions, a higher title is desirable and may be sought.

In sum and substance, a blue collar worker is an executive too.  The scope of his work and the latitude in decision making may be limited – but I don’t see this fellow any different from the CEO of a company.


The idea is to be effective and have an impact.  Nothing less.  Other than that, a title for namesake is a trip to fantasy land via the vehicle of self deception.

Copyright © Nitesh Kotecha