SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 190,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: What is your perception of a leader who has an “interesting” title with words like “guru” or “ninja” in it?
- It’s awesome and fun: 3.71%
- It’s OK: 4.3%
- I don’t care what they’re called as long as the work gets done: 23.28%
- It’s silly and I view them as less credible: 68.72%
Stop being a guru ninja! Clearly most folks find self-given titles like “guru” or “ninja” to be silly and you lose credibility for having it on your card or signature block. At best, you get apathy over it and clearly it drives a very small percentage of people to think more highly of you. Now while you may not have a silly title like that, you must realize this dynamic applies to every aspect of your “signature block persona.” You need to ensure your don’t fall into the typical traps of a bad electronic calling card. Your first impression and credibility depend upon it.
Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS and author of “One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership.”