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\u201cI learned everything I needed to know to be a CEO when I was little,\u201d TIAA<\/a> CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett, said<\/a> last year at the commencement speech of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s MBA program. During childhood, Duckett built the skill that she claims to be central to her success: her character.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy purpose is fueled by my ownable asset\u2014my character. Character is what drives it all,\u201d she said, adding that she emphatically believes her purpose in life is to \u201cinspire and make impact.\u201d Duckett is currently one of only two Black women<\/a> serving as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n And while character is an enduring virtue, the same can\u2019t be said for our jobs. \u201cJob titles come and go, but they are rented. You don\u2019t own them. They will always fall away,\u201d the executive of the insurance company told the graduating class, adding that how you impact and treat others is more important.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even when you reach the top of the corporate ladder, what\u2019s on your business card or email signature is not all that significant, she maintained. \u201cAnd what I know today, as a leader, is that I rent my title, but I own my character,\u201d said Duckett, explaining that not unlike an apartment, it can be taken away at any point.\u00a0<\/p>\n Indeed, it seems as if people have started to increasingly challenge the notion that your job is entangled in your larger sense of self or identity. Socioeconomic turmoil and a pandemic to boot spurred a larger discourse<\/a> regarding leaving a job that doesn\u2019t provide fair pay or a level of satisfaction. As employees started to further detach themselves from their work, title, or employer, they began to shift to other opportunities. And layoffs further proved that employers also see our titles as rented when push comes to shove.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no wonder so many feel emboldened to reject shoddy work. The pandemic turned our economy inside out. The thing about earth-shattering events is that they have a way of shattering professional rules too, making old assumptions about labor seem less relevant, or at least less rigid,\u201d The<\/em> New York Times\u2019 <\/em>\u00a0Emma Goldberg wrote<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n Duckett\u2019s words become less revolutionary in the shadow of the workforce\u2019s reckoning, as many employees retreat from the notion that loyalty to a company is a moral imperative. Almost half (46%) of workers reported to Microsoft<\/a> and LinkedIn<\/a> that they\u2019re considering quitting in the coming year, per a survey of 31,000 employees released in May<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Duckett\u2019s eyes, it\u2019s our innate qualities that push through in whatever job comes next. Describing character as \u201cyour attributes, qualities, and the things that distinguish you as an individual,\u201d she added that it is shown in how she leads, interacts with others, and treats herself.<\/p>\n And to most of us, we know Thasunda Brown Duckett as CEO; that\u2019s her public persona after all, and what she\u2019s paid the big bucks<\/a> for. But she pushes back against that title as it\u2019s not truly what makes her.<\/p>\n \u201cIt describes me, but it doesn\u2019t define me,\u201d she continues, \u201cI earned it, but I don\u2019t own it. To own something feels entirely different. When you own something, it belongs to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n