You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

Why I Said No to Being Called CEO A company president rejects the troublesome title of "chief".

By Tiasia O'Brien

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

sarawuth702 | Getty Images

When I started Seam Social Labs in 2018, my goal was to try and find a way to build a business as impactful to our culture as Amazon, but solely focused on community empowerment. It took me eighteen months of customer discovery to realize the solution would start as co:census, (i.e., our first portfolio product dedicated to making sure voices are heard through the lens of qualitative data).

Now that that business is up and running, one question that I've gotten is about my title as company leader.

I am not the Chief Executive Officer, or "CEO", of Seam Social Labs. I am the Head of Strategy. In fact, our company doesn't have a CEO. I am every job description related to a Chief Executive Officer, but I specifically chose a different term because I wanted to think about the impact of titles in corporate structures.

I self-identify as an Afro-Latina woman. This identity is not based on the indigenous heritage of America, but I understand how it feels to be oppressed and silenced.

Related: Entrepreneur Masters: How to break the paradigms of an industry?

History of the word "chief"

Over the past few years, I researched conflicting opinions on this term. From a city dropping "chief" from it's job titles, to protests against the name of the Superbowl runner-up Kansas City Chiefs. Recently, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson said, "the city will vote next week to remove the word "chief' from city job titles so that we have more inclusive leadership and less language that is rooted in hurt and offensive, intentional marginalization."

When I chose the title of Head of Strategy, my stance was based on the word "chief" and the limited representation of indigenous communities, overall.

From the website Native Circle: "[Chief] is a word that is commonly given as a nickname which incorrectly labels Native American men. The term 'chief' itself is incorrect. American Indian leaders were never 'chiefs', but headmen, or clan mothers, and so on. Not 'chiefs'... Being called 'chief' carries with it the same insulting, belittling sting for a Native man as being called 'boy' does for African American men."

Related: Taco Bell CEO Mark King on Tapping Into the Human Element of Operations

In a "Washington Post" opinion piece responding to the Mayor a reader wrote: "There is no reason to believe that this word was ever intended to mean anything other than its definition: "a leader or ruler of a people or clan.' There is simply nothing offensive or marginalizing about the word. Its use goes back as far as around 1300, when in Old French, it meant pretty much the same thing as it does now."

Historically this word has been used as one to define leadership, but it's also been used as a slur against native leaders. As a business founder focused on community empowerment, anything that is still being decided upon by an entire community, is worth careful consideration. No title, brand name or symbol is worth the harm of negatively impacting a culture. If 2020 has taught anyone anything, especially for those who did not work in the inclusion space, it is that you have to look at everything with new eyes.

A title that reflects my territory

One of my biggest goals in creating this company is to show that we can decolonize the systems we've created. This requires conversation and challenging the assumptions that we have historically had. If you're looking for the opportunity to work at a company that challenges these assumptions? Hey, we'll be hiring in the next few months.

As a sociologist, I am acutely aware of how much culture shifts, language changes and habits transform over time. My hope is that Seam Social Labs hires people who know they can bring their full culture and selves as added value to our business.

Related: Sometimes, What Can't Go Wrong Will Go Wrong

Tiasia O'Brien

Founder at co:census

Tech Entrepreneur. Founder of co:census powered by Seam Social Labs Inc. Sociologist & Author researching and addressing #theCivicGap. My mantra: "Data by the people, for the people".

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Multibillion-Dollar Crypto Fraud

Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan said that the loss amount to the victims of Bankman-Fried's crimes surpassed $550 million.

Side Hustle

This Mom Started a Side Hustle After a 'Shocking' Realization in the Toy Aisle. Her Product Was in Macy's Within the Year — Seeing Nearly $350,000 in Sales.

Elenor Mak, now founder of Jilly Bing, didn't plan to start a business — but the search for a doll that looked like her daughter inspired her to do just that.

Growing a Business

To Achieve Sustainable Success, You Need to Stop Focusing on Disruption. Here's Why — and What You Must Focus on Instead.

Instead of zeroing in solely on disruptive innovation, embrace a pragmatic approach to innovation, recognizing and leveraging the potential within ongoing industry shifts.

Marketing

5 Ways to Get on the Media's Good Side (and Stay There)

When you're trying to make a name and a mark for yourself and your business, it's really important to get on the media's good side — and stay there.

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Told Meta Engineers to 'Figure Out' Snapchat's Privacy Protections: 'We Have No Analytics on Them'

Recently unsealed court documents detail "Project Ghostbusters," Meta's project to work around Snapchat's end-to-end encryption to intercept data.