Why I Have a Boring Title

I lived and worked through the original dot.bomb. For those of you who don't know what this was, essentially it's a term that described the bursting of an irrational bubble fueled by reckless funding and many Web ideas that were simply ahead of their time or simply not good ideas. During this time, I witnessed several silly titles ranging from Chief People Officer, to Director of Fun, and anything with the word "innovation" in it.

My title is boring. SVP, (Senior Vice President) signals the level I hold as an Edelman employee. "Digital", signifies where I spend much of my focus. It's literal, straightforward and not very clever. And I'm not entirely sure it should be. Lots of folks in my shoes would likely rush to integrate the word "social" into the title. This is, of course the flavor of the week—and is understandable.

But as a matter of philosophy, it comes down to what you think really makes your job. Having the right words in your title mean nothing if you can't put them into practice. For yourself, for your co-workers, your peers, or your clients. Yet it's the first place we look to. We start with the headline and then write the story. But as someone who does fair share of writing as a form of professional and personal communication, I can share a little secret with you. After I've written a piece, I often go back and change the headline to reflect what I've written. Sometimes it's not even close to what I started with. This and my experience during the dot.bomb have taught me that the story is more important than the headline. And I'd rather have a boring title than a boring story.
Image credit: UglyKitty