TIAA CEO's 3 Key Steps to Separate Your Title from Your Identity

For high-level executives, the key question is often how to earn a title. However, TIAA CEO Thasunda Duckett argues the more important challenge is ensuring the title never becomes the center of your identity. 'I rent my title. I own my character,' Duckett told Fortune editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell, noting that there will come a day when she is no longer CEO of TIAA. Duckett emphasizes qualities she believes no board can confer or take away: 'I own my intellectual curiosity. I own my grit. I own my perseverance. I own my compass.' Corporate life rewards identification with the role. Promotions become markers of progress. Authority shapes access, influence, and relationships. By the time an executive reaches the corner office, it can be difficult to distinguish where the role ends and the individual begins. Duckett suggests investing as deliberately in qualities that remain when the promotion changes. These are the attributes that shape how leaders navigate every chapter of their careers, including those after the corner office. Former GE CEO Jeff Immelt wrote about how the phone stopped ringing after he stepped down, a candid reflection on how quickly privileges attached to the office can recede. Duckett appears to have anticipated this reality. By treating the CEO role as temporary rather than permanent, she is preparing for leadership's final transition while still in the job. Aspiring CEOs frequently ask what experiences or skills will prepare them to lead an enterprise. Duckett's comments suggest a different kind of preparation: Build an identity that can withstand every transition an executive career inevitably brings, including the one that eventually takes away the title. Duckett advises executives to never count themselves out, even if it's not the ideal time, as it may be the perfect time.