Title vs Money: Which Matters More?

One of the first bosses I ever had asked me when I joined his team was:

What is more important to you, title or money?

My answer, “title”, surprised him. Being a 20-something at the time, he surely thought I would have said money. So he asked me, “why?”

Title begets money. Without title, sphere of influence is harder to grow. People respect title; some people more than others.

When you are building teams and individuals within them, make sure you know what is more important to them: title or money. I don’t know many people that would turn down more money, but it isn’t a replacement when someone is looking for the recognition that the rest of the team and the organization can see.