About 20 years ago, I learned a valuable lesson – "I am not my job title." I had been an award winning teacher at a prestigious California school, the assistant to the controller of a multi-million dollar real estate company and the district trainer for a telecommunications company. I thought I was pretty cool. Then there were financial problems in the telecommunications company I was working for and I was laid off – without any warning nor "golden parachute". All of a sudden, I no longer had a title or a quick answer when people asked me what I did for a living. What a gift that situation was!

For a variety of reasons, I started to work as a "temp." One day I might be answering phones, another day I might be giving employment tests and the following day I might be planning a employee recognition event. I was treated differently based upon what job I was doing. It was eye-opening to see how a receptionist is treated rather than an award winning teacher. Yet they were both me. I was the same person…with the same skills, intelligence and personality. The way I was treated was determined by the slot I was occupying on an org chart.

From my experience working as a temp, I learned the importance of treating everybody with respect. I also learned that in some ways it's harder the lower down you are in the pecking order. You have less freedom to choose when and what you do; it's assumed that you're not as smart or as ambitious as the person a little farther up the corporate ladder; you earn less money and have to be more creative with your budgeting and you're usually the front line when dealing with customers.  Having worked as a temp, I now look at the person behind the job title and relate to him/her as an individual. I don't judge people based upon an artificial label. Whether you’re the president of a company or part of the cleaning crew, we're all the same. We're all human with the same wants and desires.

We all want to be loved and appreciated. How we earn our living is just one way we get those things. Whether we're in the office, bowling with friends or doing an errand, it's what we do in our interactions with others that determines our true value. As a quote I read someplace states it, "The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra." That extra can take the form of smiling at a stranger, holding the elevator door open for somebody whose hands are full, volunteering at a nursing home, babysitting for the neighbors, etc., etc.

It's what you choose to do that determines the legacy that you'll leave. It's your actions rather than your job title that defines your true essence. What do you want to be remembered for? What are you going to do about it?