I was reading an article on television producer Daisy Goodwin. Something she said struck a chord with me. “I think it’s quite amusing when people set up their tiny companies and then call themselves CEO. So when I set up Silver River, I called myself head girl.”
I am a huge fan of Brazilian industrialist Ricardo Semler. He got rid of organisation structures and job titles in his Semco corporation and jokingly referred to his key advisor as Chief Pharaoh. When I have been asked my job title, depending on how mischievous I feel, I have offered Chief Pharaoh, Chairman & Chief Executive of Myself and even Consultant Anarchist.
When I set up on my own I was advised to refer to ‘we’ and ‘the team’ so that it wasn’t so evident I was a one-man band. I have concluded that such pretensions are a mistake. After all, my wife still confuses my Global Headquarters with the spare (bedless) bedroom.
My only slight reservation, having sacked my imaginary team, is that it is difficult to avoid using the ‘I’ word rather more than I would like.
