“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It’s about one life influencing another.”
John Maxwell
It is well-accepted that you don’t need a title or direct reports to be a leader. Also well-established is that having a title and direct reports doesn’t make you a leader.
Some people with no titles have made some pretty huge impacts.
Some people with respected titles have done some pretty horrible things
Lack of a title does not excuse being passive.
Having a title doesn’t excuse incivility.
Value & Worth
Organizational culture often places too much weight on the title of the individual not the value. This is often because the higher the title the higher the salary.
The lines between value & worth have become blurred.
Having a fancy title & salary may make you worth more but doesn’t make you valuable.
The janitor may be worth less financially, but his services are valuable because if he stops cleaning the building people may stop showing up.
The executive may be worth more, but not valuable. If she stops showing up, will the operation cease to function.
Your value is not determined by how much you are worth.
The goal should be to establish your worth by demonstrating your value.
A title is a string of characters after your name, not before. People will care about you long before they care about your title.
If they reverse that order you may not want them around.
