What Do You Bring to The Table?
– by Colle Davis
Visualize yourself standing before a metaphoric mirror and ask your image, “What do you bring to the table?” If you’re reading MyCoach’s Notes today, you already have a deep set of skills. It’s my guess you have talents, abilities, and contacts you’ve built up over the years. You may be aware of some of them because you already have some of these talents, and some of them are hidden gems you may not realize are already arrows in your quiver that you can rely on if necessary. This total package, called you, is what you bring to the table for a job, an employer, an organization, or a relationship.
The relevant part of this thought experiment is evaluating the value pack and presenting it to a prospective buyer. Who are these buyers? They may be new friends, a company looking for a super employee, an organization that needs what you offer, or a possible network connection; all of those involved have a vested interest in adding people to their repertoire who can do specific jobs or tasks at a high level.
Think of your total value as a component of the ROI of the relationship. Consider this courtship like a dance. What can you offer that makes their time, effort, and upkeep worth the connection with you? How do you present the right components to pique their interest and keep the negotiation in motion long enough for you to make the same evaluation? Do you want to invest in this one? Do they? And the beat goes on.
Structuring yourself to a specific audience means knowing and understanding what this new audience member needs and wants to hear. The more you know about your target, the more elegantly you can structure your pitch and presentation.
Examples:
Interviewing for a position is stressful for both parties. There is an old country expression, a bit crude but highly accurate, called sniffing. When two dogs meet, they sniff each other to familiarize themselves with each other, check their health, see what they eat, and whether they are dangerous or fun. The human system is different and designed to find out as much as possible as quickly as possible to see if this one is safe, healthy, and able to be at the table.
When assembling a team, evaluating the participants makes the project easier to start and complete. Which of the people you have access to will make for the best team? Do you know the capabilities of each one and how they work with others? The criteria for teams is different depending on the desired outcome.
Generally, making choices falls into three categories:
- There are teams no one wants to join.
- There are people we want on any team.
- There are those no one wants on their team. The odd ones, no one wants because they may be solo contributors, but they are disruptive to a group.
Your value is judged by what you bring to an organization, company, or team. Fair or not, true or not, we are evaluated by what we bring to the table and how valuable it is to the group.
To enhance your value, do your homework, know who you interact with, who the decision-makers are, and who to avoid carefully. Demonstrate your talents, help others bring out their best, and encourage all parties to ask questions to clarify ambiguity or differences.
For more ideas on bringing value to the job, ask for a free coaching session to polish who you are.
Whatever issues you may have, now is the time to let go of the trauma, retain the learning, and arrive at your goals quickly and elegantly. Sign up for a FREE chat and a Free coaching session.
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For more suggestions about learning your value or coaching insights, contact me, Colle Davis, cdavis@mycoach.com or 804-467-1536 (EST).
