Month: September 2021

What about you?

What about you?

Do you own your value, the value that you bring to your job every day? Do you own the contributions you make? Are you valued by others at the company? How do you know?

One of my clients, someone quite senior at a fast-paced start-up with thousands of employees, was told that her role would change – without any discussion with her or her current boss. She was flipping out and said she felt like a pawn at the company, even though she was recruited by the CEO and regularly worked with members of the C Suite. She did not feel valued. Her gut reaction….QUIT.

In a really tight labor market, it is even more important that we own our value and value those we work with. It matters.

#WiseWords

Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.

M. Scott Peck, Author The Road Less Traveled

Worth the Share

When looking for a job, owning your value is critical. This article talks about your Personal Value Proposition (PVP), and how to build one when looking for a job. I would argue that even if you are not in the job market, being crystal clear about what drives you professionally has a ton of value.

The example given by the author is quite interesting, but I’m not really sure why he said: “Steve is a tall, 54 year old manufacturing executive.” Why comment on his height? I thought that was odd.

His four steps to building your PVP, however, were quite useful:

  1. Set a clear target: big company, small, remote, public, private,start up….be specific.
  2. Identify YOUR strengths: Again, be specific. What are you really good at? The Clifton Strengths Assessment can help.
  3. Tie your strengths to your target position: Connect the dots for the hiring manager, make it obvious that your strengths ladder up to that position. Make sure your resume mirrors your strengths to.
  4. Provide evidence and success stories: I call these your case studies. Bring your strengths to life in a tangible way to prove to the hiring manager that you are the right fit for that job.

For more details, read on.

And Finally...

What is the value you bring to your work, do you own it? Many of my clients, who are smart, hard working professionals, do not own their value. They get intimidated by those at a higher level and articulate that those at a higher level have more VALUE than they do. But is that true?

Everyone at every level of an organization has value. Companies cannot function without lots of people doing lots of different jobs. Each of those jobs contributes to the success of the company, and the people in those jobs bring their value, their relative worth, to the organization.

Know the value you bring to every organization you are involved in. Own it!

Have a great week,
Mary 
Jo

To learn more about my 1:1 executive, communication or business growth coaching, custom virtual workshops, the Career Transition program or just to connect, you can reach me at info@mjrcac.com

Do you?

Do you?

“Trust: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; one in which confidence is placed” (Webster’s Dictionary)

Trust is a big word. We need to trust, but these days, it seems like there is a lack of trust across many facets of our lives.

Trust is fragile. It gets eroded when people lie because you can no longer believe that person, brand or institution. When we have a bad experience, our ability to trust long-term suffers. The old adage: “once bitten, twice shy” clearly speaks to our fear of engaging when trust is eroded.

Working remotely has eroded trust in many organizations. Some research from Harvard said that almost a third of managers reported not trusting the competence of their own employees.

One of my clients who works remotely said yesterday that she doesn’t trust her manager or her company. Does that impact her work? Of course it does.

#WiseWords

I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that
from now on I can’t believe you.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Worth the Share

What if we could intentionally work to build trusting relationships? I enjoyed this Thrive article that talks about granting trust because it is hopeful, and we can all use a little hope right now.

Written by Mike Robbins, he talks about the opportunity to consciously build trust, which will result in deeper connections, cooperation and collaboration in our personal and professional lives.

This quote from Albert Einstein says it beautifully: “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.” Eternal optimist that I am, I’m going with friendly. Read on.

And Finally...

I had the privilege of doing some team alignment work with a leadership team that had trust issues. It was apparent that they knew trust was an issue, that it mattered to get on better footing and that they were willing to do the work to build up their trust in each other. Happily, they did the work and are now doing really well as a team.

What are some practical ways to build trust as a manager and as an employee? Research from Gallup shows that the more you trust someone and act accordingly, the more likely they are to trust you in return.

Other tips:

  • Communicate clearly. 
  • Have honest conversations. 
  • Be vulnerable.
  • Admit when you are wrong. 
  • Be humble. 
  • Be true to your word.
  • Recognize that trust builds over time. 
  • Be consistent.

Being a good human is a great place to start.

Have a great week,
Mary 
Jo

To learn more about my 1:1 executive, communication or business growth coaching, custom virtual workshops, the Career Transition program or just to connect, you can reach me at info@mjrcac.com