Why I Stopped Being Impressed by Titles

I stopped being impressed by titles a long time ago. They tell you where someone sits in an organization. They tell you almost nothing about whether the person can actually lead, build, or be trusted.

Early in my career, titles carried weight in my mind. The senior title implied competence. The impressive resume implied ability. Then I spent enough time around both that the illusion wore off. I met executives with remarkable titles who could not lead a team through a difficult week. I met people with no formal authority at all who held everything together and inspired everyone around them. The correlation between title and capability was far weaker than I had assumed.

So I stopped using the title as the signal and started looking at other things.

I look at results. Not what someone says they have done, but what actually happened on their watch. Results are harder to fake than a title, and they tell you whether the person can produce or only describe.

I look at how they treat people who cannot do anything for them. Titles change how people behave toward those above them. Character shows in how they treat those below or beside them, the people with nothing to offer in return. That tells me more than any role ever could.

I look at how they behave under pressure. Anyone can look capable when things are easy. The title holds up fine in calm water. Whether someone can actually lead shows when things go wrong, when the decision is hard, when there is no clear answer. Pressure reveals what the resume conceals.

I look at ownership. Do they take responsibility, or do they have a story about why nothing is their fault? The title says they are accountable. Their behavior says whether they actually are.

None of these show up on a business card. All of them matter far more than what the business card says.

This has practical consequences for how I evaluate and trust people. I try not to be swayed by the impressive title or intimidated by the senior one. I have seen too many impressive titles attached to people who could not deliver, and too much real ability in people the organization had overlooked because they did not have the right label.

The title is a label the organization assigned. It is not a measure of the person. Sometimes they match. Often they do not.

So I judge people by what they do, how they treat others, and what holds up when things get hard.

The title tells me where they sit. It does not tell me who they are.