We know this. Of course we do. You are not your job title. And yet it’s amazing how wedded to become to it, for the right or wrong reason. And so often it holds us in place.
If you have a job title that helps you get on in life that can be quite a shock when you change career.
For years I was Head of Internal Communications at Virgin Atlantic reporting to the CEO. This title got me most things, any things, some things. My messages got replies. My requests got answered. I wasn’t really on LinkedIn. I didn’t even know it was an app. It was a bit overwhelming being constantly pitched to.
After that job I worked for other great brands Vodafone, Channel 4, Trinity Mirror. Again - my messages still got replies.
So of course it was a shock to change career. And you are trying to talk to people about what you are doing, and would they like a coffee to chat about it? And you get no reply (they are probably overwhelmed with messages!). It can make you feel a bit cold. Like all you ever were, was a job title. It took some working on. And a lot of focus not to just run back to a lovely cozy job with a lovely job title.
And then my book came out. And (some) people responded again to my messages. A Penguin author, that must be worth having a chat to? But you kind of know. The people who are interested in what you are saying, your ideas, and the people who just want to use your job title.
Again. You have to work hard to keep in the zone of worth and not over think it. You have to remember that you are getting something far greater from your work than a job title.
Job titles shouldn’t matter, but they do. We all judge. We all filter.
But there is something far bigger than a title if we want something new, or have a drive for change.
Today I read an article about Rachel Keke. Rachel is set to become a member of the French parliament. After years campaigning for worker rights, she has now won her place. 2 years ago she was a cleaner at a Parisian hotel, where she’d worked for over 20 years. Rachel let go of her job title, and is now speaking up for what she believes in.
The newspaper article headline was ‘First cleaner to be elected to French parliament’. We love to keep people in their place, in their labels, in their titles. We think people must be crazy if they step away from their label we know them by.
We might even keep our self there with thoughts like ‘who am I to think I can do anything else?’.
But this is all our own illusion.
It’s completely possible to something other than your job title. You are more than your job title right now.
So - if you are having a rethink, check your job title is not holding you back!
eleanor
And if you want to start your rethink with a group of others Rethinkers starts 28th June -part 1, break for summer and part 2 Sept > Find out more here