THE BRAND YOU REVOLUTION SERIES –THE CONCEPT OF PERSONAL VALUE

(Published in the Daily Independent Newspapers in 2008)

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alue is an interesting concept because it is relative, it cannot be measured as an absolute – it can only be seen in relation to something else .An object/item has no value or essence until it is perceived as valuable in relation to something else.

Your  perceived value is the assumed visible but intangible component of your real value; real value on the other hand, is the authentic you, the entirety of who you are and your capabilities and it is important to the extent which it increases your perceived value.

Unfortunately, in today’s world of work, most people work more on their perceived value(psychologically manipulating how people perceive them), than on their real value (who they are, their skills, their personal intangibles, life experiences, paradigms, knowledge, energy and inventiveness).

Psychological manipulation then becomes a useful tool to manage people’s perceptions, with very little done to develop and accelerate the real component to meet up with the perceived (component), creating a huge gap between the perceived value and the real value actually offered. Little wonder many lack staying power.

Please understand that while your perceived value is what is  paid for, your worth does not flow from it, your job title or salary, but from who you really are! – your mental capacity, current / past performance, image and the level of your exposure.

Thus to bridge the gap, your perceived value should:

§  Be a visible expression of the real component within,

§  involve the proper articulation of relevant portions of your value proposition to a prospective employer

§  Be an expression of your scarcity value (assuming that you have done something, or can do something that adds remarkable, measurable and distinctive value to an incumbent organization).

HOW TO RAISE THE BAR OF YOUR PERCEIVED VALUE THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF REAL VALUE

According to Tom Jackson,” A job, is an opportunity to solve a problem” and since there is no shortage of problems, there is no shortage of job opportunities (thus, as long as you are willing to be a solution provider to a problem, there will always be an array of jobs to choose from).

There is however, one limitation; you cannot offer what you do not have! Many these days package their resumes like career obituaries, without any idea of the value they intend to bring to an organization on a daily basis. No wonder the response for most job applications is “silence”.

The perceived value, for which organizations will willingly pay, does not develop overnight; it takes time, money and energy. These resources MUST be invested in order to create an exceptional product – YOU.

The development process of product YOU will involve a   personal development plan, that requires the use of personal and well sought after organizational stretch assignments (assignments that require that you start something from scratch, or fix something that is failing, or assignments that greatly increase the scope of your responsibilities or highly visible projects). High challenging goals with high expectations and an equal chance of success and failure, developmental assignments , jobs or bosses’ feedback (positive/negative), mentoring by superiors and peers, personally sponsored training programs with reputable training consultancies  etc.

Do not expect any company to hand you a development plan, accept responsibility for your own development – use your resources to fast track your development.

Begin to look for ways to exercise profit and loss responsibility (inside or outside your current job responsibilities), look for assignments with high responsibility, relationship building tasks; hone your presentation and communication skills through attending public and self-training programs etc

Use the above-mentioned developmental steps to build and then define your point of difference and your scarcity value in the marketplace.

Research shows that:

§  People grow on the job when they have the right blend of developmental experiences early in their career, also

§  It is critical for executives to gain a wide variety of experience related more to moves across “problem domains”, as opposed to frequency of promotions.

A Harvard publication states that,” the essence of development is that diversity and adversity beat repetition every time. The more dramatic the change in skill demands, the more severe the personnel problems, the more bottom-line pressure … the more opportunity there is for learning. Unappealing as that may seem, being shocked and pressured and having problems with other people teach the most. For future executives, comfortable circumstances are hardly the road to the top.”

The work environment has a way of orchestrating unplanned events arising out of market realities, to create unexpected opportunities disguised as problems.

These problems/ opportunities may require that you stretch yourself (bridge the chasm between your resources and aspirations), in order to create innovative solutions that become working realities.

Friend, the bigger your personal and organizational challenges, the more you must grow, stretch and expand your mental capability and capacity to solve it.

As you learn, grow, stretch and expand, you become the change you wish to become; you bridge the gap between the perceived and the real.

It is time for you to leave the domain of psychological manipulation

Welcome to the BRAND YOU Revolution!

(Published in the Daily Independent Newspapers in 2008)