And what do you do?

Greetings.

Hopefully you have coped well with the lack of musings from Cicero. Now He is back and the waiting for fresh insight and learning is over.

You may have noticed that clearly the Two Caesars, or at least one of them, have been reading our thoughts or conversations. You will recall that for some time now Cicero has been bemoaning the lack of urgency our navvies demonstrate when repairing our roads, well specifically Cicero’s road. Clearly this has struck a chord with our esteemed leaders and therefore while Cicero was away sunning and refreshing Himself, they announce that those digging up our highways and byways will be charged rent for the road. Now why didn’t Cicero think of that! And about time too-for Cicero was aghast to see that on his return from warmer climes, his local via had yet again been dug up and as we speak remains unsutured. This is fast becoming a farce.

Before Cicero left you to fend for yourself intellectually, He was fortunate to attend a dinner with a bunch of Head Honchos and Marketing Grands Fromages. It was mightily interesting with much swapping of business cards and exchanges of promises to get together and to swap business opportunities. Have you ever wondered just how many of these ever come to anything?

But there is one aspect of this ritual that habitually annoys Cicero-the need to have a meaningful and impressive sounding job title before you will be taken seriously.

Now it is Cicero’s custom never to have or use his job title. You will not find it on business cards, e-mail signatures or on letters. No matter the job or the organisation it has long been Cicero’s wont never to have his name associated with a job title unless absolutely necessary.

Indeed Cicero has often said that the only time he uses his job title is when he is writing to or speaking with a customer so that the customer might know that their concern is being taken seriously and is being listened to?

Is Cicero being his usual awkward self just to be contrary (as if!) or is there a point being made here?

Naturally there is a point to be made.

For in Cicero’s world a job title says nothing about you. It is a label that tells people what you are but not who you are and for Cicero the who is always the most important.

For who Cicero is and what he can be, is not defined by some arbitrary corporate job title but is shaped by education, experience and expertise and this is the basis on which Cicero will engage with people.

In many organisations leaders will not deal with people, no matter the potential and ability, simply because they did not have an impressive enough sounding job title. This is wrong with a capital W.

A common complaint from many of the people Cicero has led over the years has been ‘this place is so hierarchical’. No wonder if we judge each other by the label printed on our business cards. Wouldn’t it be better for us all if we learned to judge people by their ability rather than what we called each other?

For many of us, our labels are a status symbol, a badge of honour, which we might be loath to give up. But if we truly want to be seen for who we are rather than what we are; if we are serious about working in a non hierarchical business where the what doesn’t matter; where we don’t obsess and fuss about what we are called, then we need to surrender these baubles.

As someone far brighter than Cicero once said ‘it is your aptitude not your altitude that matters’. Beautifully put. Let us campaign from this point on to put an end to job titles and fancy labels. Do you agree?

Now it might only be me...............but who is my community leader?

You will note that I have refrained from passing any comment whatsoever on the recent outbreaks of madness, looting and violence that have occurred. I thought it wrong to add any more incendiary to an already well inflamed situation. But having held my peace for so long I now want to add my two penny worth.

In much of the reporting reference is frequently made to ‘community leaders’ but who exactly are these people? How do you become a community leader? What experience, skills and qualifications are required to become one of these? How do they get selected? Who pays them? How much do they earn? Any fringe benefits? Do they get a company car? A final salary pension? Health insurance? I think we should know.

Given that these are seen as key people with a considerable amount of influence and great skill whom everyone in any kind of authority wishes to speak with and listen to, I can only surmise that it takes years of education, training and working on the job to become of these privileged members of society.

Now it might only be me but given that I have never met a community leader and as I am not sure even if I have one in my community, I would love to find out more about these shadowy people, especially since the media seem to love them to bits. So if you know any community leaders, and if you know my community leader, we would love to hear from you and to find out a bit more about you, the role and how you got it. Now don’t be shy, you can come out of the closet. And given how important you are to stopping us from imploding, now is the time to stand up and be counted.

We look forward to meeting you.

Have a great week.

Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.