The Value of You
Chapter 10 from “The Impact Book” by Simon Tyler
This chapter gets revisited often in coaching dialogues, particularly when clients are at a crossroads or struggling with recognising and fully appreciating their impact. As always, the reflective practice of writing helps to focus the mind, remind and reinforce your value.
Once you have read this chapter take that step and each day for the week ahead return to your notebook and keep writing, resist filtering, judging or justifying, just write. Sit quietly and consider what it is people notice about you and say about you behind your back (positively!). Use this chapter in conjunction with “3-4-3” from “The ‘Keep It Simple’ Book” to bring your attention to your brilliance.
You have impact! Likely to be much more than you currently notice or give yourself credit for.
The notes and reflections on your value that you surface then become your focus for the year ahead. Become even better at being it, delivering it; find more places to apply your skills, knowledge and attitude – it’s why you’re here!
At various times, I have become introspective and questioned the value I bring, particularly when at a low ebb, doubting my own value; conversely, in times of ‘high flow’ I have become dizzy with my own presumed brilliance. With hindsight, in both scenarios, I was missing the point.
The value you think you add may not actually be the value people gain from interacting with you. So when you hit the troughs you will not notice the important role you are still playing for those around you. When times are tough, your view will distort further.
Not understanding your mission clearly, what you bring to the table, your impact – leads to a tough journey. Trying, doubting, proving, justifying. The absence of quality feedback (which evaporates in tough times) compounds your doubts further.
Your success grows and accelerates in perfect correlation to the value you add in all the environments in which you operate.
Knowing to a deeper and clearer degree what your real value is makes it easier to realign and find other places where your impact is truly valued.
When you find your own value, with significant ease, you can raise your game, deliver more of it, to more people, and whatever it is you deeply desire (money, recognition, respect, impact) accumulates.
To identify your own value, ask (and, for full effect, write down):
What problems do you solve?
It will not be the obvious things. Sometimes you will be solving problems people already have, sometimes it will be preventing a future problem occurring. Consider what is different as a result of your involvement, your questions, your way of doing things, how you move people or inspire them to behave. Ask people closest to you. Ask trusted clients.
And if you are looking for ways to grow beyond your current role, consider (and ask) what problems those around you have that are unsolved, aggravating, disabling. You may find many new situations that you know you can do something about and add the value of you!
Of course, this same line of enquiry applies to your team or your entire company. Business 101 perhaps?