BY: CANDICE CREAR
“Worth: the intrinsic art of mastering your value, establishing WORTH your personal brand and taking pride in your contributions”
According to a study conducted by Cornell University, we as women tend to sell ourselves short when conveying what we bring to the table. Here’s the key: Men do not put forth more effort. They are not wiser, and they are not more worthy. Men are simply more confident. Women often miss out on meaningful opportunities, including financial increases, because we shy away from voicing our successes—leaving our future in the hands of someone else. I, too, have done this—until I had a supervisor instill in me to capture my valuable work in writing.
With the adverse effects of COVID-19, and heightened unemployment, it is critical now more than ever to show your worth in the marketplace. Here’s what I know is true: When mastering your career, mastering your worth matters, too. It is not always what you hold, but what you portray for everyone to see. If you don’t take pride in your contributions, and voice them boldly, there will be someone who undervalues them and takes them for granted.
There are many ways to show your worth so that you are deemed valuable to your organization. The essential parts of your worth are both financial and non-financial.
Let’s lean in on the following four pillars to guide your worth:
- Increasing Revenue: As 2020 races to a close, there is one thing every business is after: increasing revenue. The global pandemic has caused every organization to reevaluate how they do business. This is an opportunity for you to think of fresh ideas to obtain profit in the next few months. Also, don’t forget to write down the total amount of revenue you’ve helped acquire so far this year. Even if you did not own a project, your contribution should still be captured. Don’t sell yourself short
- Reducing Costs: Cost savings is just as important as sales. New and improved processes could save your company millions of dollars. Take a step back. Look at the big picture. What are a few ways you can influence cost reductions? Meet with your colleagues to share ideas and solicit buy- in. The more people are ready for change, the easier the new process will be. Note your ideas and capture the cost reductions you have influenced.
- Establishing Influential Knowledge: Position yourself to be the subject matter expert in your organization with great problem-solving skills. It is important that your colleagues value your knowledge and see you as a person who is worthy of being involved in important decision-making matters. This shift in perception will bring value in messaging your personal brand as someone who is the one to work with. With this important knowledge, your worth to the company cannot be easily denied.
- Creating Valuable Relationships: It’s all in who you know. We’ve all heard this before, but it’s true! Even though your work environment may have changed (many people are working from home), the quest to know colleagues throughout the company should not. Foster relationships and get to know more critical decision makers through virtual meetings and email check-ins. When you’re able to get projects accomplished as an attribute to who you know, your value increases strategically.
By explaining your worth story through these four pillars – increasing revenue, reducing costs, establishing influential knowledge, and creating valuable relationships – you can create a powerful vision of value with confidence. Let’s commit to understanding our worth and conveying it with written evidence that not only shows we can perform, but that we can excel!
While many choose to wallow in self-pity when life doesn’t deal them a full deck of cards, Candice Crear chose to convert her life into a greater purpose. As a driven and innovative business leader, she designs and drives transformative initiatives that enhance operational capabilities, expand brand and product visibility, and deliver multimillion-dollar revenues. In addition, she is a two-time award-winning finalist and four-time best-selling author. Candice works diligently to pour back into her community while being the CEO and mogul of Charismatic Creations, LLC, which includes Charismatic Publishing and From Fatherless to Fearless®. For more information about Candice Crear, visit www.CandiceCrear.com.