Do You Know the Value You Bring to Others?
We make countless decisions every single day, that then extrapolate to numerous decisions every single week, every single month, and each year. Some of those decisions turn out well. Others may not, and when we have a chance to redo them, we may provide a different focus to them. Of the decisions that turn out well, what leads us to rank them as good decisions? Perhaps it is the positive feelings they bring to us. In other instances, it may be a quality product that we feel was worth the money we spent on it. Still others put us in a mood that helps us to relax, enjoy, and help us feel upbeat. No matter which way you may categorize those feelings, the ultimate reality is that those decisions help to bring value into your life.
While we all love receiving “value” for the decisions we make on the items we choose to buy, the people with whom we look to spend our time, on the activities we choose to do, that principle also works in the reverse direction. Have you ever considered starting a business? I never did, until took the time to gain a coaching certification. Upon completing those studies, our instructors made it clear to us that many that go into our profession, work in their own private business. In doing so, in attracting clients to our services, yes it would be important to show commitment to our craft, yes it would be equally important to implement the skills we had learned in class, but most of all we needed to show what we were offering would “provide value” to those who availed themselves of our services.
Even now 15 years into doing what became a 2nd career for me, I remain continually conscious of providing my clients value for the time they invest working with me. And, that may mean different things for different clients. For those clients who may not have been in the job search process for many years, it involves making them understand how much the job search process may have changed from the last time they were in job search. For others who may have searched for a job in recent years, it may be more acting as a sounding board to hear what they are experiencing in the market and developing strategies to get their message out to the companies to which they are applying. Others may be choosing to change industries, or job functions that they are looking to do, so having meaningful conversations on how they can make themselves come across as an “insider” in that career change, may be the largest piece of value I can provide for that client.
Learning the value that you can provide comes from having meaningful two-way conversations with those with whom you interact. My first interaction with any new client is to learn about them, meet them where they are at, and in turn provide them guidance on ways we can best work together. It means I must do both some research on the client before I speak to them, (perhaps review a Linked In profile, see what information I can learn about them from the company that assigns them to me when it is from an outplacement relationship), to using my intuition from the career path they have taken. However, in those first conversations I also need to listen intently, to see if my “hunches” from my research, align with what the client seems to be expressing about themselves.
Whether we have our own business, work in consulting arrangements that take us from client to client and project to project, or work for a company for many years, we must always be able to show the value we bring to the customers we serve or the companies for which we work. And, that starts with true self analysis. Are you able to identify the items you do well that those that you serve value? Do you recall the items that those that work with you continually say about what it is like working with you? Do you have your own set of expectations of others when they are meant to serve you? Staying conscious of the values you expect in others as well of the expectations of the value you provide for others, is essential in having a meaningful and fulfilling career.
