My current gig as a policy analyst with the government aside, my job title in my freelance consulting career is ‘storyteller’ or some variant of the storytelling theme.
So when I read this quote on Put Things Off today (yes, I know it is an old post), I was, well, extremely put off:
Your job title isn’t the place to be creative. If you craft beautiful logos, kern type all day and your best friend is a certain lady called Helvetica, you’re most likely a Graphic Designer. If you design for the web, you are a Web Designer. If you code for the web, you are a Web Developer. If you craft crisp, concise, colourful copy, you are a Writer. If you run a commercial blog, you are a Blogger. If you sell photographs, you are a Photographer.
I couldn’t disagree more.
Now, I’ll admit that there are too many freelancers that use non-descriptive canned titles like “creative” and “director,” but I’d argue that there is a lot of room for creativity in a job title when it aptly describes what you do.
On being Head of Magic
One of my favorite people in Toronto — and one of the best marketers I have ever met — currently works at Freshbooks. His name is Saul Colt, and his title at Freshbooks is Head of Magic.
It might sound odd to you, but his job title is perfect. Saul’s job is really magical: he turns everyday product users into fans, evangelists, and spokespeople. By reaching out to every customer in the manner that that touches them most dearly, he facilitates transformations among Freshbooks users.
On top of all that, like a true magician, Saul Colt is a true showman. He doesn’t just talk about his product — instead, he engages his audience and makes them believe like they’re a part of the magic as well. Unlike most magicians, however, Saul does not keep his tricks a secret. Instead, he shares his wisdom and ideas on his blog so that we can all learn from him. Which, I guess, is why he’s the Head of Magic instead of just a magician.
If Saul had any other title than Head of Magic, I’m sure he’d do his job equally well. If Nick Cernis had his way, Saul would probably be called Marketing Lead or something mundane like that. But a title of Marketing Lead doesn’t really describe what Saul does; he’s not just a marketer, but instead is truly magical in the way he makes every single user feel like they’re the most important person in the world.
On being a Storyteller
As the example above demonstrates, your job title doesn’t have to be boring, but it has to be descriptive.
A few years ago, when I decided to get into content consulting, I struggled with finding a title that would adequately describe what I do. A lot of my work involved writing, but I wasn’t a writer. A lot of my work involved strategy, but I wasn’t really a strategist. A ton of my work involved coming up with ideas, but innovator didn’t really do the trick either.
What I realized very quickly though, is that whether I was coming up with ideas, strategy, or words, in the end I was helping people accomplish one important goal: to tell their story in the best possible way to the right people. I was, in fact, a storyteller. (I’ve since realized that storyteller not only serves as a great job title, but also describes what I do in my personal life as well.)
I tell stories. I’m a storyteller. According to Nick Cernis, my chosen job title would probably be considered frivolous and detrimental to my reputation. On the contrary, I think it describes me perfectly.
On sharing the love
Oh, and one more tidbit: I’ve been writing for blogTO for a few years now, and most of what I do for the blog is share my love for the city of Toronto. Someone once told me that every single time I speak about my city, it’s like I’m giving it a big hug.
I guess it’s not surprising that on my blogTO business card, my title is “Hugger Extraordinaire.” If nothing else, it provides a great way to get conversation going. Plus, everyone that reads it inevitably asks for a hug, and I’m always looking to share the love.
What is your job title? Does it adequately describe what you do? If you could create your own job title, what would it be?
