Defining Yourself Beyond Your Title

What if the most important way to describe yourself has nothing to do with your job title?

I thought I knew how to describe myself professionally — until a recent interview I watched made me realize I’d been answering the wrong question.

Recently, I watched an interview with Simon Sinek where he shared an idea that stayed with me long after it ended: instead of defining ourselves by what we do, we should think about who we are — the identity that exists underneath the titles, roles, and accomplishments.

It stopped me for a moment.

Like many professionals, I can easily list the things I do: support leaders, build systems, help organizations move forward, encourage growth. I’ve also built and scaled a business of my own. But none of those quite captured the common thread behind why I do any of it.

So I started asking myself a different question:

If I had to choose one word to describe who I am — not my job — what would it be?

For a long time, I’ve called myself a human cheerleader. My work, my conversations, and even the way I naturally show up with people have centered around believing in others — often before they fully believe in themselves.

I’ve built much of my professional life around helping individuals and organizations see that there is almost always another way forward. A different perspective. A stronger possibility. A version of themselves or their business they may not yet recognize — but absolutely have the capacity to become.

I believe deeply in human potential.

At first, the word believer came to mind. But I realized that word can mean different things to different people, and what I was really trying to express was something more active.

Not just belief — but action behind it.

And that’s when the word landed:

Advocate.

An advocate sees potential and speaks to it.
An advocate stands beside people as they grow.
An advocate helps others recognize strengths they may overlook in themselves.
An advocate believes there is always a better way forward — and helps people find it.

That word felt true in a way a job title never could.

It made me realize how powerful it can be to define ourselves by the impact we naturally create, rather than the position we currently hold.

Because titles change. Roles evolve. Careers shift.

But who you are — and how you show up for people — tends to stay remarkably consistent.

I’m so inspired by this idea that I’m adding “Advocate” to my LinkedIn profile as my defining word — and I encourage others to consider doing the same. Take a moment to reflect: what’s your one word?

Maybe the better question isn’t “What do you do?” but “Who are you becoming?”

One change changes everything.™️ - Laura