Introducing yourself without saying your title

“I’m a Senior Director of Experiential Design and Brand Experience for North America and EMEA.”

Original photo by Kate Trysh

As a general rule I have established for myself, I like to introduce myself as a “designer” in every meeting.

As opposed to:

• “I’m a Senior Designer”
• “I’m an Associate Design Director”
• “I’m the VP of Design”
• “I’m the Head of Design for Product X”
• “I’m a Senior Director of Experiential Design and Brand Experience for North America and EMEA”

Some of the most admirable designers I have worked with do the same. They know the current position they hold traces back to the one thing that they like doing the most: to design.

Alternatively, I sometimes use:

• “I’m part of the design team at [company name]”
• “I’m one of the designers working on [project name]”
• “I’m a designer working on the [feature name] for [product name]”
• “I’m responsible for the design side of things in this project we’re discussing today”

But never particularly mentioning my job title or level of seniority.

Why?

• It keeps me in check. I don’t want to have my voice heard in a meeting because I hold a fancy title, or because I am more senior than other people in the room; I want to be heard because/if I have relevant things to say. Respect has to be earned, not taken for granted. Multiple times a day.
• It flattens the conversation. To me, it’s important to make sure everyone else has a voice, regardless of what level they are at or how many years of experience they have in their resume. Sometimes the best ideas come from people who are able to think fresh — and the last thing I want is for people to hold their thoughts because they don’t feel “senior enough” or “as senior as the other folks in the room”.
• It keeps things simple. As we’re going around a room with 15 people, we don’t spend a lot of time focusing on long titles. Instead, we can focus on what everyone is passionate about, or what they are trying to get out of that meeting.
• It reminds me of why. Stating my role out loud (“designer”) as opposed to my title is a good reminder of what brought me to this profession in the first place. It wasn’t a title or a salary. It wasn’t the responsibilities I have embraced through the years (management, talent retention, financial compliance, etc.). It was the craft of design. And I hope it stays like that.