Men lend honor to titles, and don't tell a fish he is a bird
I've had a couple interesting conversations around titles lately I thought I'd share. There are basically two camps I've found.
1. Titles don't matter
2. My sense of identity is tied to my title in some way.
So for category 1 how you end up there as a general rule is the more responsibility and accountability you get, the less impressed you are with titles because you are exposed to a lot of people who don't meet your standards for a title and at some point you just have to accept that your a priori understanding of what a title means is incorrect. Titles only have meaning in the context of a shared culture.
A much more important measure of importance isn't title, but the skillset of the individual. How much does that person bring to the table for the organization? Could be anything really, money, tech skill, connections, personality, vision, creativity etc... And can it be transitioned into value for the organization and to the community they are a part of.
I've met CEOs with a 100k revenue business and 2 employees, VPs with no reports in the banking industry etc. and the titles are utilized more as a marketing tool to convey importance on the sales target rather than actually having any meaning.
Titles aren't regulated except for Lawyer and Dr for the most part, so anybody can give themselves pretty much any title and if the person they are talking to isn't from their organization they make assumptions.
You see this a lot in martial arts actually... "That guy isn't a real blackbelt". It doesn't matter unless you brand it and copyright it so it can't be diluted. i.e. six sigma black belt, Rickson Gracie Black, Frank Dux Blackbelt are all very different things but they are branded and you can't have them if they aren't conveyed upon you. If you claim them and don't have the credentials, those people/companies can sue you.
So most business titles don't matter much, they might give you a general sense about the guy, but if you think it's a summary of skill set/ability you are probably selling them short and missing out on opportunity to get some good value out of a relationship.
Category Two is a little more complicated and a source of cognitive dissonance for a lot of people. "I worked for 10 years, and won 100M worth of contracts this year and I'm a VP of whatever with a 40M dollar budget and 100 head in my org". If the sense of identity is wrapped up in that VP title and then that person exits their immediate organization it can be upsetting. When they run into a bank teller who is also a VP making 1/10th what they make its confusing at best and can cause conflict at worst.
In martial arts, "Black Belt" isn't exactly a licensed title. In Martial arts it results in literal fist fights between guys to 'prove' someone is or isn't a black belt. Its usually just someone who has their identity wrapped up in their personal communities ideal of what that title means, and when they run into someone 'pretending' its upsetting.
I've also seen titles as a way to try and control other people and put them in a box or conversely establish authority. i.e. "You are a sales rep, don't try to solution" and "You are just a help-desk guy, you don't understand this level". The problem with that strategy is that if it isn't matched with accountability and skill that role is actually responsible for, it doesn't hold any weight, erodes the trust in whoever makes the assertion, and undermines whoever it is said to. If you try to make a bird behave like a fish, they will likely just leave the organization you lose those value added talents.
Titles can be a quick and easy way to convey general skill set, position, authority, but don't get too wrapped up in it and understand that your pre-conceived notions of what something is doesn't mean everyone agrees with you or that it holds the weight with those people you think it does. Conversely, don't try to put people in boxes with a title you convey, you are missing out on potential, and potentially alienating them. Men lend honor to titles, and don't tell a fish he is a bird.