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0 pointsdijksterhuis5mo ago0 comments

you are what you do

> I am a CTO

> "but I don't really do CTO things"

so you’re not a CTO according to your own definition of what a CTO does then.

my previous employment i was “lead engineer”. i got to pick that title. had a 1 day per week part timer reporting to me. similar company description. making technical decisions. strategy meetings with CEO and founder etc.

i was not a lead engineer and ive since changed my linkedin page/cv to just say “engineer”. who or what was i leading? a contractor in ukraine who did work for us one day a week? nah, need a team (ie more than 1) to be able to lead.

do the brave thing and call bullshit on yourself. this is something good leaders do.

0 comments

DANmode5mo ago

You’re also what you can do,

in the context of headhunting,

which is the context most use titles.

At any rate, Senior Engineer fits well here.

tptacek5mo ago

People here want "CTOs" to be brave enough to call bullshit on their "CTO-hood" but nobody here is brave enough to call bullshit on the title itself, which is the truer and more important observation.

mexicocitinluez5mo ago

What's the purity test for being a "real" CTO?

tptacek5mo ago

Like I keep saying, I don't think there's any such thing. The title by itself has the same kind of meaning as "employee of the month".

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