Give Yourself a Title!

Recently, I was asked to give myself a title. I responded, “Madam.” I just could not give myself a title without cracking a joke. At the University of Cincinnati’s Warren Bennis Leadership Institute , the leadership team is all women: Marianne Lewis, Dean of the Lindner School of Business, Donna Chrobot-Mason, the Executive Director, and Betsy Myers, as Senior Advisor. They all have titles and insisted that I have a title, too. My work with these incredible women is voluntary—I passionately believe that a program to give every one of the 50,000 UC graduate and undergraduate students leadership training can have a profound impact on the world we live in. Leadership with self-knowledge, deep awareness of complex context, ethics, transparency, conflict resolution, vision, and service to others, can right the ship of our democracy. And where better to root this positive revolution than the middle of our country, at a dynamic university with a vibrant co-op program? I get so much out of this—being part of a phenomenal team, taking action when things feel hopeless, that my reward is to respond to my calling. No title needed!

Betsy, my partner in this adventure, doing interviews with many of dad’s esteemed colleagues and inviting them to be an Advisory Board for the institute, gave me a title. She said, “You are Chair of the Council.” I protested. She said, “But you are. This is your role. So take the title.”

Why did I balk? Why did I protest? Why is it so hard to take on a title that simply describes my role?

I’m sure all of us have moments when we refuse the title, deny the credit, let the imposter syndrome flourish, doubt our worth, believe we should shy from the light and forgo stepping up into power.

As the mighty Betsy Myers said, “Don’t do that. Take the title.”

This week, notice the places where we shy away from stepping in and owning the worth of our work, selves, ideas. And give ourselves a title.