​​​

Edition #225 – April 25th, 2024
​A newsletter by Anne-Laure Le Cunff​

The Tyranny of Job Titles

When I started working at Google, I was quickly introduced to the job ladder that has since become pervasive in the tech industry. Depending on your first job there, you get assigned to a particular ladder, with fixed accomplishments to demonstrate in order to climb to the next level.

For example, in marketing, you are an Associate Product Marketing Manager at level 3, then a Product Marketing Manager at level 4. In engineering, you become a Senior Software Engineer at level 5, then a Staff Software Engineer at level 6, etc.

Each level comes with a detailed performance rubric to assess whether or not you’re ready to be promoted. The whole promotion process is designed around these rubrics. They’re like a checklist of accomplishments you need to demonstrate to your manager and to your peers.

The problem with rubrics – beside the fact that many are badly designed – is that they encourage fitting a mold that doesn’t evolve with the ever-changing demands of work. People end up doing what will look good rather than what’s actually good.

The invisible ladders driving our lives

We unconsciously apply unofficial rubrics in many areas of our lives. Going to a good school, working for a well-known company, getting recognised for our work through awards and other industry accolades, dating a person we know our friends will like, attending events everyone is going to.

It’s as if each part of our lives came with mini-ladders to climb; checklists of things to do in order to grow.

Job titles are just the most visible ladder of them all. It’s interesting that pompous executive job titles were invented during the Victorian era. This is when we started the trend of calling a cleaner a hygiene technician. A bin man became a waste management and disposal technician. Later on, a call-center worker became a communications executive.

And this is what most job titles are about: validating who we are without having to explain what we do. In fact, a survey of 1,500 office workers found that a shocking 70% would take a better job title over an increase in salary.

This shows a profound disconnect between the emphasis people place on the value they bring to a company and how they want to be perceived within that company. It also indicates a focus on progression driven by vanity rather than actual personal growth.

From vanity growth to personal growth

Founders who run startups are often being warned about vanity metrics. Vanity metrics are metrics that make you look good to others but don’t actually help you grow in a meaningful way. In business, vanity metrics include registered users, social media likes, and page views. Actionable metrics include active users and paying customers.

In life, vanity metrics are those shiny medals we collect to make ourselves look good to others, such as job titles, impressive companies, or awards. Actionable life metrics, in contrast, provide an actual reflection of your personal growth.

Actionable life metrics are based on questions such as: Are you actually better at what you do than you were a few months ago? Did you learn something new or acquire a new skill? Regardless of your new job title, are you actually becoming a better human being?

It’s easy to fall into the trap of vanity growth when everyone around you is chasing a better job title. Here are a few ways you can ensure you’re focusing on personal growth rather than vanity growth:

• Reflect on your progress. While job titles are fixed, your daily accomplishments are not. Writing every day to think about what you actually did today that made you a better version of yourself is a great exercise to ensure you focus on the right things. Journaling is a powerful tool to add to your mental gym.

• Conduct personal experiments. Making a pact with yourself to learn something new is one of the simplest and most actionable ways to foster personal growth. This could be mastering a new skill or a new topic, or regularly meeting new people. I wrote more about designing personal experiments if you want to try it for yourself.

• Surround yourself with fellow curious minds. It’s hard to hide behind a job title when you’re chatting with smart people. Challenging conversations are also an excellent way to drive your personal growth beyond job titles. Make sure to spend time with curious minds who will question your knowledge and your skills in a constructive way.

• Rewrite your bio. A few years ago, my bio read something like this: “Ex-Global Marketing Lead at Google. Founder in Residence at Entrepreneur First. Venture Scout for Backed VC” – a collection of recognisable tech brands I had been associated with. This is the most common approach to describing ourselves. Instead, try stating what you’re currently working on and the topics you enjoy talking about.

Of course, you should be proud of your progress at work and being promoted is a great ego boost and recognition of your contributions. Just make sure that your personal growth matches the visible progression demonstrated by your position on the job ladder.

Most successful people are not described by the role they have within a company. They are celebrated in terms of what they have actually accomplished.

👀 Into the Mind of...

MOLLIE WEST DUFFY

Each week I ask a curious mind about their habits, routines, and rituals. This week I talked to the amazing Mollie West Duffy, half of the Liz & Mollie duo, and bestselling co-author of Big Feelings and No Hard Feelings.

One anchor ritual to reconnect with yourself? Going for a walk. Some days I bring a garbage bag and some latex gloves and pick up trash that accumulates along the curb. It helps me feel a sense of purpose, and makes our neighborhood more beautiful.

One strategy to restart your creative engine? Reading! I check out books from the library on my kindle. I read a huge variety of genres, but especially love non-fiction books on wide-ranging topics. I just read books about the history of astrology, homelessness policy, the science behind memory, and an exploration of how we learn to like different foods as kids. I take notes using Readwise, which downloads my kindle highlights into an app that I can search later on. I never know what I might reference in the future!

One mindset shift that transformed your work? Taking mini breaks throughout the day. In between meetings, I might read a section of the NYTimes Sunday print edition that I have left out on my dining room table, lift some weights, or prep some food for dinner. Getting up from my computer for a few minutes helps me reset and not get zoom fatigue.

Read Mollie’s books

🤝 Brain Trust

If you enjoy the newsletter, you'll love our community of curious minds who grow together through interactive workshops and safe discussion spaces. Here is what we have planned in the next month:
​
​• Design a healthy work routine. Join Gosia Fricze for our next Creative Hour on Monday April 29th where she’ll guide you through strategies to strategies to mindfully optimize your productivity, creativity, and well-being.
​• Learn about the science of mindfulness. In this 4-part series, Beth Leria will teach you the fundamentals of mindfulness and meditation, including the formal practice of Mindfulness of Breathing and alternative anchors. The first session is on May 3rd.
​• Design a personal experiment. We have monthly accountability sessions to design and review our experiments and discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what you want to focus on next. It’s a great way to build accountability and get to connect. Join me for the next one is on April 30th.
​• Make progress on your projects. Tackle your to-do list while enjoying the company of fellow community members. Lukas Rosenstock and Javier Luis Gomez are hosting coworking sessions on Mondays and Thursdays, covering all timezones.

All of these and future events are included in the price of the annual membership ($49), as well as access to the recordings of all our previous sessions and past cohort-based courses.

🌊 Brain Waves

Have a friend who wants to make the most of their mind? Send them the newsletter using your unique referral link below and unlock Reflective Minds, a database of good questions from great thinkers and creators.

Until next week, take care!
Anne-Laure.

P.P.S. You’re not a robot, don’t act like one :)