If you can help it, these are some titles that you should not use to describe yourself:

Guru
Genius
Wizard
Prophet
Authority
Influencer
Thought Leader

Not an exhaustive list of course (see more at the end of this email!).

Why not?

Each person will interpret these titles (/labels) through the lens of their own life lessons. For me the biggest trigger is the lack of humility in each.

If you really were a Guru, then you would realize how true Albert Einstein quote is: “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.”

You would immediately not call yourself a Guru.

Or Genius or Authority or Influencer or ....

If anything, I've found that the more I learn, the more my impostor syndrome increases. Learning something new only confirms that yesterday - when I thought highly of myself, :) - I was not as knowledgeable as I am today!

From there, it takes little to realize there is a whole lot more I don't know. And, poof goes any chance attach the title Thought Leader (or anything above).

You can see my heartache when someone introduces them-self to me as an Influencer in space "x" or a Trailblazer in space "y".

Me.

I have used the title Evangelist.

The first time was for Analytics. It started because I was not sure what my job was going to be, and I decided I'll preach a new/different way to think about analytics.

The second time was for Marketing - after realizing that the presence or absence of data was not the problem, it was strategy and culture.

I've interpreted Evangelist to be a teacher contributing lessons to get to a better destination.

Please correct me if the word Evangelist has the type of arrogant connotations that any of the above titles has.

I coined the title Analysis Ninja because I'd coined the phrase Reporting Squirrels to replace the loathsome but commonly used phrase Reporting Monkeys. I imagined Ninjas as cutting through all the data pukes to find insights. They are in service of this greater truth (warriors who flight with humility, per Sun Tzu).

Given that Jedi is #1 on the list below contributed by my Twitter followers, I wonder if with Analysis Ninja I made a mistake! I welcome your feedback.

You.

Choose whichever title or label you like. If possible, choose one that reflects your curiosity to constantly learn new things and your leadership in improving your team/company/others.

If there are other specimens of humanity that want to call you a Genius... Well, accept that with the grace thank them.

Bottom-line: What we call ourselves is for the benefit of others, but it says so much more about us and our values. Hence, I urge some care.

Much love.

-Avinash.

PS: Titles no one should ever use contributed by William Alvarez, Heidi Storm Moon, Brent2Point0, Beth Morgan, Dennis Still, Jared Bauer, Dan Coleman, Lindsey Norberg:

Jedi
Maven
Thinkfluencer
Innovator
Trailblazer
Pioneer
Polymath
Visionary
Change Agent
Rock Star
Design Unicorn