Add your full value (video transcript)
Your second responsibility as a team member is to add your full value. How do you show up when you’re with your team? Do you bring a hundred percent of yourself or are you on cruise control? Does some pale imitation of you show up for meetings? Do you catch yourself thinking, why bother? Or that’s not my area? It happens for so many reasons.
For many of us, it’s just the sheer volume of work. We’re overloaded. For others, it’s more of a problem. There’s a lack of trust or there’s cynicism on the team. But for whatever reason, when we just do what we have to do to get by, we don’t bring the best of ourselves to our team. Instead, we have to bring our full value.
But what does that mean, add your full value?
Most people understand that they have to do what it says on their job description. You bring the best of your technical capability. You weigh in on topics of direct relevance to you, but that’s not enough. If you’re always chiming in on the same things or always sharing the same opinions, your point of view becomes much more predictable, and in some ways, much less valuable. Adding your full value means more than just your functional role or your technical expertise. You have to bring all of your talents and experiences to the table. You can’t just show up when it’s the stuff that’s directly relevant and then be a spectator for everything else.
Find more value to add. Maybe it’s your past experiences. You’ve worked in a different industry, you’ve worked at one of your customer organizations, that’s valuable. Maybe it’s your relationships. Maybe you know a key member of the community. Sometimes experiences outside of work are really valuable too.
I know an Olympic swimmer who had so much to teach his team about resilience. Maybe it’s just your personality and your style that are so valuable. Every team needs a risk taker, and somebody who’s detail-oriented. And goodness knows, we can all use an Energizer bunny and a cheerleader sometimes.
Adding value doesn’t always mean having the solution or the right answer. One of the best ways to add value is to ask really insightful questions. You never know what value you bring when you show up as your whole self.
You’re more than a digital marketer, an accountant, or a supply chain manager. When you change the value you bring, you’ll change your team.
Your Value is in Identifying the Problem, Not Solving It
Focus your time on your real value