Express Your Value to Elevate Your Career
Stop stumbling and share how you shine when it matters most!
If you struggle to express your value, you aren’t alone. Most people aren’t comfortable sharing their career contributions. In this article, I share subtle shifts to free yourself from false beliefs and a process to share how you shine that works.
Expressing your value and how you shine the brightest is now more essential than ever! Fortunately, many professionals are getting the knack of sharing how they stand out from their peers on LinkedIn. Catchy headlines are more common than ever. However, I still hear weekly stories of how hard it is for most people to comfortably discuss their contributions when it matters most.
Because we are experiencing such a strong change cycle, distracted minds and different work environments (hybrid and remote) make it much more difficult for people to focus on much outside of dealing with constant and compounding change. As a result, you must be more proactive to express your value and share how you shine.
If this makes you groan in despair, I get it! I loathe “selling” myself and how I partner with leaders and teams to elevate their impact and income without sacrificing their wellbeing. I’d much prefer to let actions speak louder than words. The problem is; that strategy simply doesn’t work.
Decision-makers are more stressed than ever. It’s ludicrous to expect them to remember all that you do and how it matters to the company. It’s also not reasonable to expect someone to read your resume or check out your LinkedIn profile and get the full picture of how awesome you are. As my friend Rick Gillis is known to say: “Your work doesn’t speak for itself. You do.”
With all that said, you will be relieved to know that you do not need to transform into a “salesperson” to effectively express your value. There is nothing ‘salesy’ about sharing FACTS. Facts that include what you’ve done and why it matters.
Yet, why is it so hard to discuss your value in the first place? Before I dive into how to express your value to elevate your career – let’s make sure we address any roadblocks that stand in your way. Here’s what I see most commonly in those I coach:
- Reluctance to brag
- Humble to a fault
- Over-reliance on expertise
- Look at my credentials!
- “They should know”
- Hard-worker myth
- I don’t know what to say
Firstly – sharing how you shine, based on factual information, is not bragging! Bragging is over-stating facts to your benefit, which is rarely a good idea. By expressing your value, you are focused on the facts about how you have made a difference.
If you identify with being Humble – I applaud you … when used in moderation. Humility is a lovely trait that can be taken too far, very quickly. If you have a habit of putting yourself last, it’s likely that other people will too.
Relying on credentials and expertise isn’t enough. You can have the alphabet after your name, that doesn’t mean that you are a top performer. Working somewhere for a while isn’t the answer either. Just because you’ve done ‘X’ job for years doesn’t equal a promotion.
You may hope that you will be noticed because, after all, “they should know” that you work hard and therefore deserve a pay raise or a promotion, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case. Besides, how do decision-makers know that you don’t really like doing what you do … maybe forever??
The same myth applies to those who are “hard workers”. As someone who also bought into this false belief for years, working hard usually results in more hard work. I do not encourage you to become lazy or perform mediocre work. What I hope that you will understand is: putting your head down and plowing through day in and day out without communicating your value and your career aspirations, isn’t a good plan for career advancement.
Now more than ever, leaders are overwhelmed. We have the Great Resignation which means a massive loss of resources and knowledge. In addition, we also have the Great Reset. Everyone is figuring out what the future of work will look like, what work environments are best, and what is critical for workplace culture to thrive. In addition, you have post-pandemic fatigue (too early?) and disaster fatigue – not to mention disillusion with country leadership on various levels, etc.
Our entire world has been turned upside down in two years. Most of us are TIRED and it’s impacting our wellbeing.
Expecting people to “just get” that you are doing whatever it is that you are doing for an expressed purpose – without expressing that purpose to anyone – doesn’t work!
If you aren’t sure how to express your value or what to say and when, here’s what DOES work:
1. Know Your Target
2. Identify Your Contributions
3. Share Your Goals & Wins
1. Know Your Target
Before you share how you shine, consider your goals based on your zone of genius. Your zone of genius is where you effortlessly perform your best and live fulfilled based on your natural gifts, expertise, priorities, and aligned aspirations. It may surprise you to know that, yes, you can excel at something that you hate to do. It’s critical for your long-term fulfillment that you are sharing a brand that connects with your career trajectory and what you want to do!
For my clients that want more clarity about their goals based on their zone of genius, one of the first assessments we do together discusses what actions/tasks give you energy and which ones drain you. This is a wonderful first step towards understanding what you naturally gravitate towards (and what to avoid) when planning your career advancement strategy.
2. Identify Your Contributions
It’s important to identify and share contributions aligned with your goals. By doing so, you are more likely to attract what you want to see more of in your career. Essentially, whatever you put out there is likely what you will see more of!
Most people I work with struggle to articulate their contributions. I can understand why. I used to be totally unaware that this was even a ‘thing’. However, when I began leading major process and culture changes it was essential to learn how to discuss why the work I did matters to the organization.
Basically, if I wasn’t making an impact, it was unlikely that I would continue to receive resources and backing for the projects I led. Additionally, it might cost me my job.
As you can see, this drove me to quickly understand how to express my value and the value of the work I led. As a leader, it was equally important that I learn how to highlight my team without detracting from my own contributions. Most people get this wrong. They either over-emphasize their team or hog all the glory. Neither is a good idea.
- Consider your top projects or wins. Maybe these are hurdles you overcame. Perhaps you played a role in a major initiative. Or, it could be changes that you made in how things were done that improved outcomes.
- Focus on the results of what you accomplished. When expressing your value, do not skip sharing the impact of your work. If you can articulate in dollars/cents or percentages, great. It’s also not required. Some results aren’t as easily discussed.
- What was your role? Did you lead in this contribution story or were you involved? Be clear on which one it was and be honest.
- Add high-level and essential details. What was the improvement, project, or win that you want to highlight? Resist getting into the weeds. For those addicted to details, write it out and then condense it to one sentence if possible.
TOP TIP: if you are sharing your wins within your organization, be exact on any figures. If you are sharing outside your organization, rough estimates are fine. People do not fact-check you. However, if the impact was extremely significant, you may want to have some backup information handy, just in case you are questioned.
3. Express Your Value & Goals
Now comes the fun part: understanding when and where to share how you shine. Obviously, you want to resist randomly dumping information on people and hogging the spotlight at inappropriate times. No matter what your role is, you can encourage a culture of sharing ‘wins’ or positive stories by encouraging others to share their stories first.
If you have regular meetings with your leadership, be sure to mention your contributions as a standard part of your report out. Don’t wait until the performance review, however, to start sharing your career goals or your ideas about what you can accomplish for the company.
The critical piece people miss, particularly when it comes to getting promoted into leadership, is to create a business case for your promotion. It’s not enough to show past results and hope for the best. Decision-makers want to see how you think and, most importantly, that you are thinking ahead. Be blunt about the value you can add at a higher level. Yes, getting promoted benefits you, but not before it benefits the company!
Other obvious essential times to express your value are during performance review time and during interviews. Of course, you want to have your career highlights in your resume as well. However, when you share how you shine on LinkedIn, leave off dollar figures and stick to percentages or a written synopsis. Social media platforms are public and you don’t want to disclose sensitive information.
The critical moments that you want to share how you shine often occur by happenstance. These aren’t planned and you want to have your elevator pitch practiced and ready to go. Your pitch includes who you are, what your core expertise is, and your goal. Share this when you have the chance to meet top-level decision-makers within your organization for the first time.
An example is: “Hi, my name is Erin and I lead improvement projects for the Texas Region. Several of my projects were mentioned in last month’s internal newsletter. My goal is to leverage my proven expertise in the Global CI Division to increase revenue at a higher level within the organization.”
You will notice that I did not mention a specific role. It’s not a good idea to include ousting someone as a part of your elevator pitch! Be direct and to the point. Senior executives and C-Suite leaders usually prefer a more direct approach.
Don’t forget to share how you shine and your goals far and wide – internally as well as externally. Your network cannot help you unless you give them something to work with. Once your allies know what your aspirations are, their memory can be triggered if an opportunity arises. It is essential to help your fellow professionals whenever possible. Connects others freely to give back to your network. People are much more likely to assist you if you support them.
If you do get access to an opportunity and think: “I’m not a 100% match for this, maybe I should pass” or, “I don’t have all the skills they need, what if I fail?” Here’s what I say to the high-achievers I coach: “Waiting to be a 100% match for a role will hurt you – you must have room to elevate”. In fact, hiring managers are less likely to consider you because you may be quickly bored and become an attrition risk. Reach for roles that are a stretch and give you room to grow!
About me – My name is Erin Urban (LSSBB, CPDC), I’m a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, an international speaker, bestselling author, and certified executive coach with over a decade of partnering with leaders and teams to increase impact & income.
Want to elevate your impact and not sure where to start? Let’s chat! Schedule a consultation call HERE.
