The Nickname Project
Nurse Alice Tittle said Claudia Alta Taylor was, “… as pretty as a lady bird.” At two years old, Claudia became, “Lady Bird.” (NYT)
Claudia became the First Lady of the United States when her husband Lyndon Johnson became the 36th President.
Nicknames often explain an outstanding quality of a person.
10 Famous Sports Nicknames:
- Eldrick Woods – Tiger Woods (I had no idea Tiger’s name was Eldrick. Did you?)
- Alex Rodriguez – A-Rod
- George Herman Ruth – Babe
- Roger Clemens – The Rocket
- Paul Bryant – Bear
- Wilt Chamberlain – Wilt the Stilt
- Muhammad Ali – The Greatest
- Hector Comacho – Macho Comacho (Boxer)
- Thomas Hearns – Hitman Hearns (Boxer)
- Gordie Howe – Mr. Hockey
Sports enthusiasts may know the owners of the following nicknames.
- Catfish
- Shoeless
- Magic
- Charlie Hustle
- Pistol
- The Great One
- The Fridge
- Dr. J.
- The Juice
- Too Tall
Team project:
Have each member of the team give a nickname to everyone around the table.
Base nicknames on a strength or outstanding positive quality. Avoid nicknames like Big Nose Barry.
Assign nicknames and explain in one or two sentences the reason you gave them.
- Dale the Finisher. I admire how you always finish what you start.
- Mary the Hammer. You’re great at driving home the most important point in a presentation.
- Christine the Compassionate. You always think of the feelings of others.
- John the Helper. Everywhere you go, you find a way to add value.
It doesn’t matter if the nicknames stick like Lady Bird or The Babe. The goal is to acknowledge each other’s strengths and pour a little fuel on someone’s fire.
Alternative #1: Use animals for nicknames, Tiger, for example.
Alternative #2: Go on a nicknaming walkabout. Just walk up to someone and say, “Today, I think I’m going to call you The Rock.” Explain the reason in a sentence or two.
What nicknames would you give the people on your team?
In case you missed Sunday’s post:
HOW TO GAIN POWER WHEN YOU FEEL POWERLESS
Dan
You may know something else about nicknames, innately, that didn’t come out in this great teaching. Nicknames are unique. When a leader identifies someone by positive nickname, it gives a special honor and connection from the leader that no one else has. It makes him/her feel special.
Someone on the team feeling honored AND a special unique connection with the leader…that’s what we are talking about!
Thanks Mike. Brilliant! As soon as I read your comment I knew you were right. What a great way to connect and encourage.
Dan,
Interesting perspective, has me pondering on a Monday morning, great way to start the week.
Nothing like special recognition!
Thanks Tim. Your consideration of this as recognition is something I hadn’t thought about. It makes perfect sense. You expanded my thinking on this.
I wonder if we don’t already have nicknames for folks on our teams; some positive and some not so positive. I love the suggestion of having this done as a team to recognize positive strengths. This is a great team building exercise when developing a deeper level of trust.
Thanks McSteve. I think, in many cases, we do. I like the opportunity to give this some thought and get intentional about it.
Perhaps we could ask people, what’s your aspirational nickname?
Dan,
My sons soccer coach did this for all of the kids one year, explaining why he chose each one with the whole team in attendance. They all took great pride in their nicknames. Any 10 year old likes the handle “the rocket”, or the “speedster”, no reason why it wouldn’t work with adults!
Thanks. T.
In your list of nicknames, you don’t distinguish which are self-generated (self-branding) … more than half, by my memory.
Many of us highly resent being assigned a nickname … it took me 10 years (of deliberate effort I shouldn’t have had to make, and unwanted loss of associations) to shed the one I grew up with.
This is NOT a healthy or affirming exercise … the persona is not the person; pretending that it is is emotionally ignorant and asking for deep trouble in terms of abusing the trust people may have in you (or hope to have).
Just because the President (read: CEO) does it doesn’t make it right or acceptable.
Rurbane, you raise an important point. Nicknames are affirming when relationships are deeply authentic. That takes time and effort and intentionality to reach that level. It might be tempting to use this practice to build relationships, but in my experience it is stronger after relationships have seasoned. The few times I’ve shared a nickname with someone it is to recognize the delight of a long-term friendship or an often-named trait admired over time. For me, nicknames usually grow on a person and are infrequently assigned on a particular occasion. Your caution is noted, but I hope you can find space for them in trusted relationships. They can capture deep bonds in a few short words.
Your point is well taken … intimacy is a threshold for being presumptive; yet I’m sure you’d agree if the Other objected, you wouldn’t do it again.
But we are talking about “working” relationships – a matter of proximate adjacency more than authenticity, a civic matter of manners, politeness, and not ASSIGNING presumptions to one another if we are to avoid treating one another passive aggressively.
This exercise would be much better achieved by sharing Myers-Briggs results, both in terms of our denials of others, and of ourselves. I’ve done that (collective) exercise four different times, and have been surprised every time by three things:
1. Many cannot affirm their own designations;
2. Many laugh in disbelief at designations of others;
3. The CEO never shared his/hers.
Fascinating.
Cyborg, stat:
The phrase “grows on” sticks in a way that is very to the point…
“Charlie Hustle” was the original moniker (1972), baseball being my life (@ 12 yr. old during the reign of the Big Red Machine) … I didn’t mind, tho I much more saw myself in the mold of Johnny Bench rather than Pete Rose … and during the season that I played on the all-star team that went to the finals in all Europe …
Which became “Chuck” when we lost (a la Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty) … despite having hit the only genuine home run of my post season playing …
Which became “up-Chuck” (As in in “whasupChuck”)
In high school, repatriated against all odds – in basketball – with two teammates from this too small world … when I left my .673 batting average behind because I wasn’t going to catch my senior year … and went out for the first time for football (where I earned the monicker of “Kamikaze” as a 133-lb. cornerback going literally headon with backs twice my weight) …
Which re-became “Chuck” in college (state school) where many of my contemporaries could not let it go …
And a near total confusion with new intimates who couldn’t “see” how an “intellectual” such as myself had such an obviously “unbelievable” background … back to “upChuck” …
Btw … the original meaning of “bully” was “beau,” a protector, not a predator,
funny how things (meanings) can invert over time …
(“didn’t ‘mean it”)? Caveat emptor …
We do a lot of work with some colleagues in China. It has become customary that when a new member of the team faciliatates or participates in a project in/with China for a decent amount of time, our Chinese colleagues give him/her and Chinese name. They take time to understand the person and the name reflects something that stands out to them. Those who receive their Chinese names feel incredibly honored and the Chinese colleagues feel empowered as something they only can give. I just love this tradition and it has really helped bring two cultures together when I have seen friction in similar situations in the past.
I love the concept!