Why I Prefer Not to Use the Terms Consultant or Marketer | Revealing the True Nature of My Work in My 500th Article

Introduction | Does that title really represent 'you'?

It was only when I discarded my title that people finally began to take action.

This is not a metaphor. It is something I have actually experienced throughout my career of over 15 years.

When I used to introduce myself as a 'consultant,' the reaction from others was always the same. They would straighten their posture slightly, and a small distance would form. The conversation would then become somewhat formal and detached. I always attributed this discomfort to my own 'lack of ability.' But that wasn't it. The cause lay in the 'structure' inherent in the title itself.

How do you describe your work in words right now?

Consultant, marketer, coach, advisor, facilitator. There are many words in the world used to describe people's work. And when you choose one of those words, you are unknowingly imposing a 'certain relationship' onto the other person.

Jay Abraham, a world authority on direct marketing whom I deeply respect, once said: 'If you truly care about the other person, you must think of their prosperity before your own profit. Only those who can do this will gain overwhelming trust in the long term.' He called this approach the 'Strategy of Preeminence.'

When I faced these words, I realized something. The title of 'consultant' embeds an asymmetrical relationship of 'the one who knows vs. the one who doesn't' into its structure from the start. The title of 'marketer' hides a perspective that views the other person as a 'target.' The title of 'coach' brings with it the premise that 'the answer lies within you.'

None of these are wrong. But none of them are me.

This article, marking my 500th post, is my honest account of 'why I prefer not to use those words.' There are stories of failure. There are embarrassing stories, too. I will talk about how, in the days after I left the pharmaceutical company and started working as a sole proprietor, I tried to hide behind titles many times, only to feel that same sense of discomfort each time.

When you finish reading this article, you might find yourself thinking about your own title or position from a slightly different angle. And if you currently feel like you 'don't know how to explain your work,' this article is written for you.

A title is armor. But you cannot get close to someone's heart while wearing armor.

What can we see when we take that armor off? Let's find out together.

Chapter 1 | The subtle, fatal flaw in the word 'consultant'

When you hear the word 'consultant,' what is the first thing that comes to mind?

'Expensive,' 'difficult,' 'not relevant to me,' 'I'm not sure what they actually do.'

You likely thought of one of these. This is not just a matter of image, but an 'accumulation of meaning' that the word itself has built up over a long time. In Japanese business culture, the word 'consultant' has become stained with the image of 'a system where you pay a high fee, receive a thick slide deck, and do the execution yourself.'

I spent over 15 years at a pharmaceutical company, working in sales for the psychiatry, respiratory, and allergy departments, and I also experienced office management and headquarters operations. I saw the same scene many times: a management consultant would come in, a proposal would be delivered, and six months later, no one would have implemented the content. And the following year, another consultant would be called in.

I have long wondered what that was all about.

The answer was simple. The relationship of a 'consultant' has a structure that makes it easy to blur the 'responsibility for solving the problem.' The proposing side finishes with the proposal, and the executing side finishes with the execution. There is no bridge built between them.

When I first started working as a sole proprietor, I initially tried using the word "consultant." For one thing, it was the easiest term for others to understand. For another, I felt that by hiding behind that word, I wouldn't have to explain my true nature.

This is still an embarrassing confession to make, but it is true that I was trying to escape into a job title.

However, every time I introduced myself as a "consultant," a distance was created between me and the other person. Consultations started to feel like "placing an order." My words were processed through a filter of "the consultant's opinion" in the other person's mind. That felt incredibly uncomfortable.

Let's think from first principles. What is it that I want to do?

It is "to create a state where the other person can move forward under their own power." To that end, I engage in dialogue, ask questions, and help organize their judgments. The skills I use might be consulting, or they might be coaching. But those are just means. The goal is for the other person to start moving.

The title of consultant makes the means look like the end. That was the fatal flaw for me.

Chapter 2 | The gap in body temperature with others that the word "marketer" hides

The word "marketer" is also a term that feels out of reach for me.

In recent years, the number of people calling themselves "marketers" in the world of personal branding has surged. People who excel at designing customer acquisition, building purchasing funnels, and measuring initiatives with numbers are appearing one after another in the world of content creation. I myself actively utilize marketing concepts and methods. Or rather, there are parts of being a sole proprietor that wouldn't work if I couldn't use them.

However, by calling myself a marketer, I have felt that I am "losing" something important.

If I were to put that "something" into words, it is the sense of body temperature with the other person.

Marketing is essentially a "philosophy of solving the other person's problems within the context of the market." However, in practical settings, it is inevitably pulled toward words like "numbers," "efficiency," and "optimization," and there is a danger of inadvertently seeing the living, breathing human being in front of you as a "conversion rate."

The biggest thing I learned through 15 years of pharmaceutical sales is that there is a huge gap between the accuracy of information and the other person actually taking action.

In the field of psychiatry, I had accurate clinical data at hand to encourage doctors to change prescriptions. I had evidence of efficacy, safety data, and the results of comparative trials. But just because I explained those carefully did not mean the other person would act.

When they did take action, I always felt this: it was only when the other person felt that "this person is trying to understand me."

The word "marketer" tends to bring out weapons like "this method is effective" before building a bridge across that gap. Methods are certainly powerful. But in a river without a bridge, no weapon can reach the other side.

I want to change that order. First, face the person and build a bridge across the gap. Then, if necessary, use marketing methods.

That is why I do not call myself a marketer.

Chapter 3 | So, "who am I?" — The true nature of my work, thought out from first principles

It is easy to reject a job title. But what remains after you reject it?

If I don't face this question, I will just end up as someone who hates job titles. That is not what I really want to convey, so in this chapter, I will try to verbalize as honestly as possible what kind of person I am and what I do.

First-principles thinking is a way of thinking that breaks things down to their fundamentals, removes assumptions and conventions, and reconstructs them from their essence. If I am not a consultant, a marketer, or a coach, what is the 'smallest unit' of my work? After continuing to ask myself that, I arrived at a phrase.

'External decision-making support'.

That might sound difficult, so let me break it down.

When people make decisions alone, they always have biases. Assumptions from their own experiences, distortions from emotions, and misperceptions from biased information. Everyone has these, and they are often hard for the person themselves to see.

I step in from the outside and ask, 'Are you stuck here in your judgment?', 'Is this premise really correct?', or 'Perhaps these aren't the only options.' That is the core of my work.

This is not about diagnosis or evaluation, but closer to 'running alongside' someone to help organize their thinking. I sometimes use consulting methods. I sometimes use coaching questions. I sometimes use the 'eye for seeing the essence of a client's challenges' that comes from my sales experience. But these are all just means; the goal is to 'create a state where the other person can move forward based on their own judgment'.

Here, I will share a story of a failure.

Not long after I started my freelance business, I received a consultation from a business owner. They said, 'My sales aren't growing. I want you to tell me what the problem is.' I took those words at face value, analyzed the reasons why sales weren't growing, and proposed improvements. I used data, built a logical argument, and took pride in having made a reasonably persuasive proposal.

However, a few weeks later, I received a message: 'I understand the content of your proposal well. But I can't act on it.'

At first, I couldn't understand the meaning of those words. The proposal was correct. The logic was sound. Why couldn't they act?

Eventually, I understood. The problem that business owner was truly facing was not that 'sales weren't growing,' but the 'exhaustion of having to make decisions in isolation without knowing who to consult.' The sales problem was just a symptom; the essence lay in the isolation of decision-making.

What I should have provided was not an improvement plan, but confirmation that 'your judgment is not wrong' and the support of 'thinking about the next move together'.

From this experience, I redefined my work not as 'solving problems' but as 'creating a state where one can make decisions'.

And that definition is slightly different from a consultant, a marketer, or a coach. That is why I do not want to use those words as the subject of my identity.

The meaning of being 'someone who is a little further ahead'

I am often conscious of the position of being 'not an expert, but someone who is a little further ahead'.

An expert is someone who possesses overwhelming knowledge or skills in a specific field. And experts have an implicit authority. A relationship where 'what I say is correct' is easily formed somewhere.

But what I want to do is not to make the other person say 'you are right,' but to create a state where the other person can think 'I am right'.

A 'person who is a little further ahead' is someone who has failed a little more and overcome a few more obstacles than the other person. I am not someone who bestows answers from an overwhelming height, but an existence that can share the experience of 'I also got stuck here. This is how I got through it'.

That sense of distance is closest to the texture of my work.

Fifteen years of pharmaceutical sales, experience in expense auditing and internal system implementation at headquarters, and the trial and error after leaving the pharmaceutical company to start working as a sole proprietor. While these are not professional certifications, they carry the weight of being the words of someone who has walked this path.

What I can offer is that weight. Not a title, but the density of experience.

Chapter 4 | What do people lose when they rely on titles?

For those who have read this far, I will share a deeper story.

There are clear benefits to using a title. You can quickly convey your role to others. You can build a foundation of trust in a short time. It is easier to provide a basis for your pricing. These are undeniable practical values.

So, what do you lose by relying on a title?

I have felt three main things.

The first is the habit of continuing to think about your own work.

The moment you call yourself a consultant, the definition of your work becomes somewhat borrowed. You are pulled by the social image of what a consultant is, and you no longer need to question what you truly should be doing. This is easy, but it is also a cessation of thought.

As long as I operate as a sole proprietor, I must continue to define my own work myself. When people let go of that question, they try to fit into the mold of a title. When you fit into a mold, you become unable to respond to client issues that fall outside of it.

The second is honest dialogue with the other party.

When you have a title, the other person approaches you with expectations. There is a premise in their mind that says, 'If they are a consultant, they will say this,' or 'If they are a coach, they will ask this.'

If you try to meet those premises, you end up looking for 'what should be said as a consultant' rather than what the other person truly needs. This is a loss of sincerity.

There was a time when I couldn't tell a client, 'I don't think you need to do that right now.' This was because I felt the pressure to propose something as a consultant. But sometimes, the thing that truly benefits the other person is 'not moving right now.' Jay Abraham's idea of 'putting the client's prosperity before your own profit' is tested in exactly these kinds of situations.

The third is flexibility toward one's own change.

A title is, in a sense, a definition of your past self. The moment you call yourself a consultant, the customs and expectations associated with that word stick to you. But people change, and the quality of their work changes too. In my case, the skills I cultivated in pharmaceutical sales and the skills I use now to support management as a sole proprietor have the same roots, but their expression is quite different.

To remain honest about that change, a fixed title can sometimes be a hindrance.

That is why I continue to hold onto my title with the somewhat awkward phrase 'External Decision-Making Support.' It is awkward, but it is a phrase I thought of myself. It is not borrowed. That tactile feel is important to me.

I do not mean to deny those who use titles.

Let me clear up a misunderstanding here.

I have absolutely no intention of criticizing those who call themselves consultants, marketers, or coaches. I know there are many people who sincerely and deeply embody those titles.

All I want to say is that I would like you to re-examine whether those words are truly honest for you.

People who have their own definition of their work in their own words are strong. This is because that definition does not waver. No matter what others say or how market trends change, they have a core that says, 'This is what I do.'

To possess that core, I personally recommend letting go of the borrowed identity of a title.

Chapter 5 | Consulting and Coaching as Skills: The Decisive Difference Between 'Using' and 'Being'

This chapter is the core of what I most want to convey in this article.

I use consulting skills. I also use coaching techniques. However, I am not a consultant, nor am I a coach.

This might sound contradictory, so I will carefully break it down.

A chef uses a knife. But they don't say, 'I am a knife.' A carpenter uses a hammer. But they don't say, 'I am a hammer.' Skills and tools are used for a purpose. They are not the purpose itself.

Consulting is a skill for analyzing the structure of a problem and organizing a path to a solution. Coaching is a skill for drawing out a person's thinking through questioning and encouraging self-determination. Both are powerful tools, and I use them selectively depending on the situation.

However, there is a decisive difference between 'becoming a consultant' and 'using consulting.'

'Becoming' means identifying yourself with that role. When you become a consultant, you end up viewing the other person's challenges as 'problems that should be solved as a consultant.' As a result, when a problem arises that cannot be solved through consulting, you feel your own limitations or end up distorting the other person's challenge into a problem that can be solved through consulting.

'Using' means choosing tools for a purpose. You look at the other person's challenge, judge whether what is needed now is consulting, coaching, or simply listening, and then choose the appropriate tool. The axis for that judgment is 'whether the other person can move forward.'

This difference manifests clearly in actual practice.

For example, suppose someone comes to me for advice, saying, 'I want to organize the direction of my business.' If I accept as a consultant, I head toward analysis and proposals. If I accept as a coach, I head toward questioning.

But if I accept as an 'external decision-making supporter,' I first head toward exploring 'what this person really wants to organize.' And only after that answer emerges do I choose the tool to use.

This difference in order significantly affects the final outcome.

In over 15 years of sales experience, the situations where I achieved the most results were those where I was able to move without fixing my role. To listen to what the attending physician was truly troubled by, I would temporarily set aside my role as an MR for the day. When I was able to make that judgment, the dialogue changed, the relationship changed, and the prescription changed.

This is not limited to pharmaceutical sales.

Whether in dialogue with executives, supporting organizational management, or accompanying an individual's decision-making, "not being bound by being someone" can be the greatest gift you can offer the other person.

The reason I am neither a consultant, a marketer, nor a coach is that I do not want to let go of that freedom.

And because I have that freedom, I can say to the other person, "I don't think this is what you need right now." I believe that is the practice of what Jay Abraham calls "preeminence."

Another perspective that emerges when you use it as a skill

When you decide to use it as a skill, another change occurs. It is that your attitude toward learning changes.

When you become a consultant, your learning is directed toward "doing consulting better." When you become a coach, it is directed toward "deepening your coaching." This in itself is not a bad thing, but it is easy for your perspective to narrow.

When you are in a position of using it as a skill, the question "what does the other person need to move forward" becomes the starting point for learning. Then, consulting, coaching, psychology, sales techniques, and marketing philosophy all appear in parallel as "tools for the other person."

The content I share on note also comes from this perspective. Sales, psychology, organizing thoughts, the structure of judgment, and practical knowledge of interpersonal support. Although these may seem disconnected, they are all connected by a single thread: "how to use tools for people to move forward."

I believe that whether or not you hold that thread is the difference between a "person who uses skills" and a "person who is used by skills."

Chapter 6 | Why work comes to "people without titles"—dissecting the structure of trust

If I don't have a title, won't the work stop coming?

This was what I feared most when I started my sole proprietorship. And now, I can assert that this fear was misguided. It was actually the opposite. When I let go of my title, the quality and depth of my work changed.

Why does that happen? Let's think about it from the structure of trust.

When people ask someone for work, there are two main bases for that judgment. One is "because this person's title and track record are trustworthy." The other is "because this person themselves is trustworthy."

The former is trust created by titles, qualifications, and numbers. It functions effectively for someone you are meeting for the first time. Information such as "from a major consulting firm," "certified professional," or "hundreds of successful cases" serves as a basis for judgment.

However, there is a limit to this kind of trust. Trust in a title only functions in contexts where that title is understood. And when the title is lost, the trust disappears with it.

The latter is trust built by the accumulation of a person's thinking, attitude, words, and actions. This takes time. But once it is built, it does not disappear even if the title changes or the market changes.

The reason I have continued to write 500 articles on note is to build this latter type of trust. Each article is an accumulation of information: "Charlie as a person has this perspective," "asks these questions," "made these mistakes, and recovered this way."

A title can be written on a business card. But the quality of thought and sincerity can only reside in content created over time.

An era where "how you see things" is questioned more than "who you are"

Information asymmetry is shrinking rapidly. In the past, information that only experts knew held value. But now, you can find out most things if you look them up. We live in an era where knowledge alone is not enough to set you apart.

What holds value now is the quality of your perspective—how you see things.

It is about being able to look at the same phenomenon, identify what the problem is, determine where the essence lies, and propose the order in which to solve it. I believe that this way of seeing things is the true expertise of our time.

My reason for not using titles like consultant or marketer stems from this. A title tells people who you are, but it does not tell them how you see things. Yet, the latter is what people who want to hire you really want to know.

How does this person view my situation? Is this person's perspective reliable? Will talking to this person help me organize my own thoughts? These are questions that titles cannot answer. Only the accumulation of words and thoughts can answer them.

The number 500 articles represents the volume of that accumulation. It is a record of me continuing to put my perspective into words, one article at a time.

Chapter 7 | To you, the reader of this article: Defining your work in your own words

Finally, let me speak directly to you, the reader of this article.

If you feel like you don't know how to explain your work right now, that is not a weakness. Rather, it is a sign that you are trying to be sincere about your work.

The feeling of not fitting into a title comes from an instinctive recognition that your work is more complex, more human, and cannot be fully explained by existing terms. That feeling is correct.

People's work is not inherently that simple. Especially in jobs involving interpersonal support, the form changes depending on the person, the method changes depending on the situation, and the depth changes depending on the relationship. Trying to explain that in a single word is unreasonable in itself.

So, what should you do?

My suggestion is simple: keep talking about what you do using your own experience and your own words, rather than borrowed ones. You don't have to find the perfect definition all at once. As you talk, write, and engage in dialogue, the contours will gradually become clear.

I am still in the middle of that process myself.

The term external decision-making support is the best definition I have for now. But a year from now, it might be a slightly different term. I think that is fine. Because a change in definition means that the work has deepened.

Jay Abraham once said, Do not be afraid to honestly tell the other party the true value you possess. Hiding value is a betrayal of the other party.

Defining your work in your own words and continuing to communicate it honestly—that is the foundation of long-lasting trust.

Titles are borrowed. But your own words cannot be borrowed by anyone.

Through 500 articles, I have gradually cultivated those own words of mine. This article is one of them.

Summary | Why I can still continue my work even though I am neither a consultant nor a marketer

I will summarize what I have conveyed in this article at the end.

The reason I prefer not to use the terms consultant or marketer is that these words introduce a subtle noise into the relationship with the other party. Consultants often imply an asymmetry between the one who knows and the one who does not, while marketers often sneak in a perspective of viewing others as targets.

What I want to do is not that, but rather to create a state where the other person can move forward based on their own judgment. To achieve this, I use consulting skills, coaching questions, and the eye for seeing the essence of others that comes from over 15 years of sales experience. However, these are just means, not my true identity.

Titles are certainly convenient. But when people identify themselves with their titles, they become bound by responding as that title. I wanted to let go of those constraints. And by letting go, I gained the freedom to say to the other person, 'I don't think this is what you need right now.'

If this article, written at the milestone of 500 posts, serves as an opportunity for you to rethink your own definition of work, there is nothing that would make me happier.

Your work should be much richer than any borrowed title.

Thank you for reading this far.

Taking the action to like, follow, or even comment is a true encouragement to me. Thanks to you, I have been able to reach the milestone of 500 articles. I will continue to write articles that make your decisions and thoughts a little lighter, so I look forward to your continued support.

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I am always accepting consultations regarding the organization of decision-making, the nature of sales, and your own positioning. Even a casual 'I just want someone to listen' is fine. If you are interested, please feel free to reach out from my profile page.