Naming our value – being unforgettable

This week…

A client of mine who has been an employee of a large institution for some time was headhunted by a competitor, and the institution they had been working at, despite being informed of the competing offer, ignored it…and then was shocked when my client handed in their notice. My client feels unseen by the organisation to which they gave their loyalty.

A friend, a genius in her field, through not clearly naming her value up front, is thoroughly exploited by the company she has done several years of serious heavy lifting for.

Someone who really has no clue, being paid silly money, largely because he is a master at blowing his own trumpet in a way that lands for his potential clients.

Every day I see really good people… skilled people, being stepped over, exploited, ignored….because they made an assumption, as I have in my past, that my work will stand on its own legs and will speak for itself.

In a world filled with people shouting about their work, our voices are so easily drowned out by all the others. Even worse, if we assume that not saying anything and having our work be the story will attract attention. In rare cases, it will…

We have to name our value. We have to be precise. We cannot assume. We have to place ourselves and our work and value firmly in the conversation from the start. We have to assume, sadly, that almost everyone will exploit us if we do not. And love to bits the people who do not exploit, but see you fully in your value and honour it.

And in our values, we have to be unforgettable because forgettable is just more noise.

Photo credit: Rubbertoe (Robert Batina) via Compfight