I have already done an article on common company management posts or titles; be sure to check it out. After doing that article it made sense to explore the same subject but look at funny or unusual posts. It is funny how when I was working on the other article, I wanted to include one of such posts. The thought came when I referred to something Elon Musk once said. That train of thought lingered and here we are today, funny or unusual company management posts or titles. Let me start with a funny or unusual title Elon Musk coined for himself.

Techno King

There was one time when Elon Musk was asked whether or not he was considering stepping down as CEO. He was also asked if he maybe would consider transferring from being Chairman to being Chief Product Officer. In part of his response, he said, “I changed my title to Techno King”, to which the audience laughed. He then went on to say “…and by the way, this is a formal SEC filing so I am legally or whatever Techno King. I just did that as kind of like a joke just to show that these titles do not mean a lot”. That title of Techno King can apply to being CEO or Chairman; particularly in tech startups or businesses.

Chief Troublemaker

This is again referred to as the CEO and especially those in the tech startups arena. This stems from the often disruptive nature of tech startups. The disruptiveness here regards how some tech startups give birth to whole markets that never existed before. Plus they tend to redefine markets by changing how things are done. So the use of the title, Chief Troublemaker, encapsulates that disruptive element. This title is used by Joanna Pineda, the Founder of the Matrix Group (specializing in web design). Another funny title used to mean a CEO is Boss of All Things. Chief Instigator is also an interesting alternative to CEO.

Wizard Of Light Bulb Moments

If you went through the other article you will recall I explained what an Executive Director is. I pointed out that in some cases an Executive Director can be given a specific role e.g. Finance Director. Side note: I once saw somewhere this Finance Director post being titled Accounting Ninja. By that token, it means he or she can be assigned to be a Marketing Director. That is the familiar title that refers to a Wizard of Light Bulb Moments. The reason why it is titled that way is because of the nature of what a Marketing Director does. Alternatively, some can call them Marketing Rockstar or Director of Fun.

Basically in any marketing venture, there are lots of aha or eureka moments. You can come across data or insights that make you go like, “oh now I get so let me do this…” Those light bulb moments are a common component of marketing strategy formulation and execution. The ‘wizard’ element is also befitting because exceptional marketing drives almost feel like magic or spiritualism. It is like you will be reading people’s minds and subconsciously controlling them.

Chief Rockstar

This one mainly applies to the common Chief Operations Officer (COO). It can be used for other specializations depending on the context. Interestingly COO has been in some cases taken to assume new meaning. For example, it can mean Chief of Others, Champion of Operations, or Chief Obedience Officer.

Coming up with or identifying with funny or unusual company titles is not petty as some might think. It can be relevant and strategic to your brand image. You can even use such titles for other job posts as well. Using them can creatively showcase your brand identity. Coming up with or encouraging such titles fosters creativity and uniqueness. It will also appeal to the young generation which most likely constitutes your biggest human capital pool. This is because you would have displayed your flexibility and futuristic outlook as a brand. It would be interesting to see the use of funny or unusual company management titles becoming a thing in Zimbabwe. For example, imagine replacing the title of Receptionist with Director of First Impressions. How about Paranoid in Chief for ahead of security, be it physical or cyber? I think that would be funny and cool.