Valuing Oneself & Others

How do you measure performance and value your talents?

Have you 'actually' measured your value?

'Perceived value' translates into 'actual value'. That is why the best people are sought after by potential employers and executive search specialists. When these people value your skills, wisdom, experiences and competencies you get compensated more, are recognised and  valued even further. 'Pay for the best' is the truism when it come to employment and employability.

How do you appraise your value? How do you get valued like a precious diamond is assigned a price-tag, or your property/real estate is appraised?

Before your next performance appraisal, do a SWOT Analysis. Born of marketing, and used to assess the value of a brand, SWOT can be used to assess your valuable skills, and Unique Selling Points (USPs). SWOT is an acronym for Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. By identifying, in detail and exactness, your Strengths (abilities and capabilities) - you can project your Opportunities (including future value and potential). Your Weaknesses need to be reduced, and converted into competencies or your Threats increase to become your risks.

Do a SWOT Analysis before your next Performance Appraisal interview, job interview, or when updating your LinkedIn profile. 

Leadership Lessons: How do you value yourself? How do you value others? How do you answer questions relating to value, relevance and importance?

Which Life Skills Will You Need To Stay Employable?

Is education important in life? Yes, however it is not critical. Relevant and useful skills are. Education does not, necessarily, translate into learning, and transfer of knowledge.

There is so much information out there, but how much of it is knowledge. Knowledge is power, so it has been said. How much knowledge do you possess? Of this, how much will be relevant to your value in the future?

Is experience important? Yes, only if it is related to your profession. Is working in a company about experience? Perhaps. Too many aging workers take length of service as experience, and they can be sadly mistaken. Unless they develop their skillfulness, resourcefulness, confidence and clarity of thought, they are merely practising loyalty to a job, or their company (or is this dead?).

We are not getting younger, and the young will push us to the back of the queue. Unless of course, you possess and apply skills that reflect your competencies, experiences, values and resourcefulness. Tweak your character. Respect others. Recognize them. Reassure others when appropriate. Build relationships instead of destroying them.

Which life skills do you possess? Which life skills will guarantee your existence? These will include: Interpersonal skills, written communication, influencing skills, presentation skills, conflict management, creative problem solving, decision-making skills, motivation, managing meetings, and leadership skills.

An openness to learning, staying broadminded, being involved and participative with others – these are useful attitudes to one’s profession and colleagues. What you know, who you know, and who knows you: these are properties worth developing in your human assets and capital. Be a lifelong learner. Actively apply what you have learnt. Be relevant. Be valuable. Be worthwhile. Make it worth your while to stay employed.

Arm yourself with skills, and capability. Forewarned is forearmed.

Redesigning and Re-engineering Your Purpose

Designer fashion is about personalizing your style. What you dress in, and how you express yourself, and your personality – that becomes your presence and penchant for the world. When we are suspected of having evil designs on somebody, then we have designed ourselves for being a suspect and suspicious.

Organisations undergo transformations in order to survive, strive and thrive. They apply methodologies and business interventions like re-engineering, re-structuring, right-sizing, downsizing – all the seemingly brilliant buzzwords that, invariably, end in disappointment for a few or the majority - like empowerment.

From good to great; or, from good to gone? The distinction is very clear. Will you still be around three to five years from now? Nothing is permanent, yet people do leave behind a permanence even after they depart from an organization. Leaders leave behind their legacy, an indelible imprint that others speak fondly about or with distaste. We have sustained cynicism when companies continue to pay errant CEOs large compensation packages after their resignation or re-designation.

Change involves transformation: changed, develop and grow. Which stage are you now? Companies cannot make the changes smoothly and effectively unless people also make their own decisive transformations. If people are the backbone and asset of your company, how do you develop their entire being and help them enhance their capability and careers? How do you engage the other 80 percent of the employees to create more than the expected 20 percent of the results of the company? Can we reverse Pareto’s Law, and turn the scarcity mindset (Law of the Few) into abundance?

Leave it to chance? Chance may make a random appearance – long after your demise. Whether you believe in Evolution or Intelligent Design, we need to review how we design our workspace and workplace, so that staff feel valued, appreciated and recognized.

Leadership Lessons: What will you do to stay real and relevant? How do you create your competitive and comparative edge? How do you actively design your workplace experiences that promote high morale and good work values? What kind of success is your team engineered for?

*****

Hawaii-based, Physical Therapist, Nathan Carlson, who was here for the Singapore Bay Run (time of 1:11) completed the Maui Half-Marathon on Sunday in 1:09:44 for 1^st place. Congratulations, Nate!

Defining Yourself

My friend, Barney Tee wrote in his electronic signature, ‘The ride defines the run.’ How interestingly true. The regional haze situation has returned – twice in a year – and the air qualify varies everyday according to wind conditions and rainfall. The meteorological agency with the health agencies would then provide advisory on outdoor activities. This morning, it is a PSI index of 25: it is suitable for exercising outside.

The results for the mildly, haze-affected Mega-TRI Singapore were out yesterday evening. I was 15th in my age group, and 44th overall. As expected in my intuitive race (I did not refer to my watch after my swim leg), I had a moderate ride and decent run leg (in the second and third laps). I noticed that, generally, the stronger and faster riders ran much faster than the weaker ones; thus, my main focus for the next five months. What gives?

If you are strong on the ride, especially when hills and headwinds prevail then you may have more in the tank when you head out for your run segment. The transition from ride to run can be tough, and you take off with rubber legs.

The entry for the Boston Marathon 2012 opened on 12 September. I have to get ready on 19 September to register. According to the multi-tier system, those who are more than 20 minutes ahead of the qualifying times get to register in the first three days. If slots sell out, so be it and will be no more to offer. Those with 10 minutes margin and more, get the next three days to register. Borderlines cases of one minute and less will only get a chance (fastest fingers) to register on the last day (and beyond). If slots sell out before in the six preceding days, it will mean that the rest of us would need to qualify for the 2013 event beginning this month.

A Boston Qualifier (BQ) is just that. It is a qualifying time that provides an entry point into this Holy Grail of the world’s oldest marathon. Beginning 2013, all BQ times will need to be five minutes faster. Such is the allure of Boston and personal quest for athletic excellence. I earned a borderline (one minute buffer) BQ of 3:29:59 (at Hong Kong Marathon 2011), so the next attempt will have to be 3:24:59 and faster. I am confident of beating 3:25:00 already, and hope to do so at the Singapore Marathon on 4 December. I am hopeful of doing a sub-4:00 at Ironman New Zealand based on last Sunday’s 27K run splits.

Leadership Lessons: How do you define yourself in your resume? How have you redefined yourself in recent years? How do you continue to enhance your potential and capability?