A colleague and I are having a discussion about the position or title of Director. Is it over saturated or is the title appropriate for the position. The position we are discussiong specifically is for that of a Social Media and Enterprise 2.0 person. They wish it to be called coordinator. This position does not exist yet, but when it does, the person will have a direct report to one other person (position title unknown) and be responsible for standing up an Enterprise 2.0 and Social Media plan as well as implementation of the plans. Eventually this person would have staff beneath them as well to do community management and social outreach.
So what would this person be called if not a director. The customer believes it should be coordinator, but we are looking at people with Director level experience. So is it beneath a candidates station to be called coordinator if once a director? Is there a better suited title name.
Some of you might say let’s not get hung up on titles. But the reality of the world is that titles mean a lot on the speaking circuit and invitations to certain events… aimed at certain levels and higher. And there is a little bit of discrimination if you do not fit that “mold”. We don’t want this position to be ignored as the impact potential is huge.
So can you help? What other titles can you come up with?
Thanks for your time and input.
Another name for a director is a person that’s in charge of an agency that is over all managers. A director is also a person that is just one step below the owner.
People identify roles such as director, deputy director, manager
Depends on goal but…
Coordinator sounds lame. Stuff like guru, ninja, evangelist I’d argue are similar – they add a cool, fun vibe but don’t denote power or authority
I tend to agree about these new “titles” people give each other. I don’t think a General in the Pentagon or a Member of Congress would give the time of day to someone with guru, ninja, or evangelist in their title. Although times are a changing. A coordinator sounds like someone who is working on the social schedule of the White House calendar. But the only thing that makes that cool are adding the words, White House.
A power of authority and respect is key here. Someone in this role must be respected and seen not only in their office, but in contact with all others as someone of a very serious nature and pull within the organization and more so, with the very larger community.
I would suggest Doyen, but it is so obscure and used by only one man I know.
Someone I was with at a conference last week was called Senior Fellow, but I don’t think that applies either. If this was a public sector business, there would probably be a C-level title assigned. However this customer is military, so that also causes extra concerns with the hierarchy situation.
Definitely cannot use military rank, but I was hoping we could play off of it in a way.
People use simply stuff – like Consultant/Auditor/IT Specialist…then next level is Senior X (consultant, auditor)….then Manager…then Director…
This sounds like a difficult decision. Titles are symbols of influence that are normally dependent upon their intended use *within* the organization. On an inward look, one should consider who are the person’s peers? Inwardly, this is well known with hierarchical organizations, especially in every Government office that I’ve known. On the other hand, since you are looking for a title to also use in the outside world, the consideration should take into account what is known about the organization. Since this is a social media position, whose face is on the website, Facebook or Twitter? What can be inferred from the visible person and his/her title? How is this intended position related to that public presence, and to comparable presences, for those are the peers for the speaking circuit. You may have contradictory objectives that without deeper consideration will lead to a bland and conventional conclusion. Does the client want a Director or an Evangelist?
Short answer Tony… both. Someone to hit the ground running, make decisions, implement them and enforce them.
Just throwing these titles out there for you: Official, Administrator, Strategist, Supervisor, Officer, Leader, Chief – it all depends on how your organization is structured if any of these titles will work for you – Good Luck
Andrea, we have all sorts of acronyms for the really important people nowadays, VP, CIO, CKO, CFO…why not CSMS – Chief Social Media Strategist? Begging off of Lynn Doanes “strategist” suggestion below. That title would incorporate the “directing / director” nature of the position and inherently suggest the visionary caliber desired in your fishing net for candidates.