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Totally Consumed

I love the idea and sentiment behind wanting to humanize roles and make it easier for people to relate and communicate across artificial boundaries. It also fits well with the "business casual" dress and attitude of Gen Y here in the US.

From a more global perspective, I wonder if in other cultures this type of informality might be viewed as offensive or off-putting?

Mary Jo Asmus

I follow your blog and loved this post. As an executive coach who focuses on "work relationships", I have a strong belief that what I do boils down to humanizing the people I work with. Once a leader is humanized, the positive changes he or she can create in others (through humanizing) can be quite far-reaching.

Good stuff, and I've linked back to this post from my own site.

Chris - Manager's Sandbox

Steve - When I think about interactions I've had at work when just starting at a new organization or in a new role, I find that the most successful ones were the ones with A) peers of mine, or B) people who's title I didn't know prior to the interaction. It's amazing how knowing someone's title can hurt your ability to work with people at higher (or in some cases lower) levels in an organization. You come in to the situation with all sorts of preconceptions and assumptions that may or may not actually be correct.

Great article, today!

- Chris

Ellen Weber

Thanks for the refreshing post, Steve. Have you noticed that when you have people tell you who they are in a firm, that role description often differs from the roles on paper for that person. Without alignment here - problems multiply. That's why it's often good to hear it from people's own perspective first. Would you agree? Keep the faith friend:-)

Steve Roesler

Dear Totally,

Your global perspective question is a good one. Many places that I slink off to for consulting gigs would not easily adopt that posture.

The title itself is, culturally, a sign of success and stature in the community. That said, I've seen a softening of this in many places and imagine that over time, it will not be as prevalent.

Steve Roesler

Mary Jo,

Thanks for the link love and the encouraging comment.

I share your view of, and approach to, humanizing work relationships as part of the coaching role.

Many people would be surprised at how often and how deeply organizations are affected when executives are able to get straight talk and support in the relational area.

Steve Roesler

Chris,

Aren't titles fascinating?

As I read your description of how you interacted in those specific situations it caused me to think more honestly about my own tendencies. Ooh...Not always a pretty sight.

Perhaps this is a topic worth a bit more exploration. . .

Steve Roesler

Ellen,

Wow, your observation is a timely one; have been working with a job description scenario in a client organization. It is quite an eye opener-when you hear someone describe their role, it's perceived importance, and how others experience it.

This is a heck of a good activity to go through periodically. It's a lot easier to deal with inaccuracies when they are brought into the light of day than allowed to quietly smolder. These are the kinds of things that can get tossed off as a minor "administrative" glitch when, in fact, they define who someone is in the workplace.

Your note regarding alignment is dead on and that's why these aren't just administrative exercises.

Thanks for the added perspective. . .

Meg Bear

I think the primary thing you should gather from the title of a person is something about the job function they are doing/thinking about. Title gives you no insight into their personality or how you might best connect with them (formal, informal, serious, light, etc.). What you do know of someone with a big title is that they probably have a big job and in knowing this you might do a better job presenting information in a way they can best relate to it.

Steve Roesler

Meg,

I'm with you on the "big title" part; it certainly prompts me to communicate with the bigger picture in mind.

Not so confident about titles giving insight into personality or how best to connect. I've met some pretty wacky accountants and some darned serious sales and marketing folks.

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