I read an interesting little article on the BBC website today called “Can you justify your job title?”. Having recently completed an MBA where I remember being amazed and slightly confused at how many people have job title with the words ‘vice president’ or ‘CEO’ in them at 30 years old, I decided to take a look.
I find the question of “What do you do” to be really interesting. Answering that question with your job title does not really give me much information about who you are and what you do. It especially gives me no information of what you are supposed to do versus what you actually do, or whether you just do what you say you do or you do so much more than that. Does that all make sense?
I meet people every day who just do the minimum at work. Job titles sometimes give people more credit than perhaps they deserve. At the same time there’s a growing number of people who do so much more than their job title gives them credit for. They look for opportunities, they start initiatives, they contribute in a positive way to the office place and the business, above and beyond what their job title requires.
The majority of individuals I have met with sustainability jobs created those jobs. They saw opportunities within their companies to bring sustainability onboard in a way that makes sense for both the company and the planet. No job title is adequate in my opinion to show their contribution.
