TWP 007 – Validating Your Value – The Missing Piece Behind Becoming Irreplaceable in Your Career

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SadaPay Layoffs Info: Sheet Link | Please refer to 27:58 as to why this is here.

People understand the concept of providing value but seldom understand how to validate it. You work day and night being the best asset, but when the time comes, you’ll just be another headcount on the chopping block. In today’s episode I want to cover how to build a strong base, which can ideally make you irreplaceable at any job…or better yet irresistible for any new opportunities.

Hosted by Saqib Tahir
Support the show: https://support.sknexus.com/

Chapters

0:54 – What is Value?
3:42 – Issues in Pakistani culture related to Value
4:21 – Risk of not Validating your Value
5:31 – How to Validate yourself
5:57 – Purpose of The Wandering Pro Podcast series
6:18 – Don’t work hard, work smart
6:56 – How to combine Value and Validation
7:32 – Step 1: Build your network
8:34 – Identifying the right people
8:59 – Intention of network building
9:32 – My Example: Making network in Tech Support
10:52 – Step 2: Asking the right questions
11:59 – My Example: How I leveraged good questions
12:37 – Why knowledge curation is important – call back to episode 5
13:04 – Step 3: Get feedback and set goals
13:42 – Why goal setting is important
13:56 – My Example: How goals helped me grow
14:38 – How working smarter is better than working harder
15:28 – Working smarter doesn’t mean you work less, just different
16:32 – Step 4: Documenting your work
17:07 – Journaling your work
17:57 – Gathering data helps you find patterns
18:25 – My Example: How my documentation habits made me solve for the company
19:57 – Step 5: Providing solutions to the company
21:32 – How my passive efforts helped me escape calls
22:20 – I was an illegal citizen where I worked
22:34 – Summary: How to validate your value
23:41 – Don’t blame the environment, do it because it is what valuable people do
24:22 – The All In strategy
26:46 – Value goes both ways
27:58 – In the car segment: Layoffs at SadaPay and How Acquisitions work

English Transcript Summary: Mastering Value and Validation in Your Career

Welcome to another episode of The Wandering Pro. Throughout this series, we’ve delved into various topics, including how to define your niche, the difference between passion and paycheck, and how to learn new skills. In our last episode, we emphasized the long-term benefits of soft skills, noting that while technical skills can be acquired through practice and learning, soft skills take time to develop.

The Importance of Soft Skills

Soft skills are crucial because, while you can learn technical skills on the job or through education, soft skills such as communication, leadership, and teamwork are what set you apart in the long run. You might feel confident that you have mastered both soft and hard skills and are proficient at your job. But what’s the real benefit of all this learning and proficiency?

Understanding Value

In today’s episode, we are going to explore the concept of value. This is a recurring theme in my podcasts and blogs, like Tech Made Fun, because everything in your career or business boils down to the value you provide. Whether it’s customer value, employee value, or social value, understanding and delivering value is essential.

The Basics of Providing Value

There are two fundamental rules for providing value:

1. Delivering Extra Value for the Same Cost: This means offering something additional for the same amount of effort or resources. This cost can be in terms of time, money, or any other form of input.
2. Delivering the Same Value at a Lower Cost: This involves providing the same service or product as others but at a reduced cost, which again can be time, money, or any other resource.

Applying Value in Your Career

In a corporate environment, standing out is essential. Unfortunately, in many companies, employees are often seen as mere headcounts or human resources. To distinguish yourself, you need to showcase your value effectively. This becomes crucial when it’s time for a raise, contract renegotiation, or pitching a new idea. Demonstrating your value increases your chances of being heard and appreciated.

Cultural Challenges

In many corporate cultures, particularly in Pakistan, there is a prevalent mindset where individuals believe they are the backbone of the company, often thinking no one else works as hard as they do. This can lead to a toxic environment where some individuals are seen as indispensable while others are undervalued and overlooked.

Value and Validation

To succeed, you must not only provide value but also validate it. Many people provide significant value but fail to communicate or document it effectively. This lack of validation can lead to job insecurity and missed opportunities.

The Value-Validation Spectrum

There are two ends of the spectrum:

1. High Value, Poor Validation: People who provide great value but fail to validate it.
2. Low Value, High Validation: People who make loud claims about their contributions but provide little actual value.

The goal is to combine the positive aspects of both ends: providing real value and validating it effectively.

Becoming 1 of 0

Adopt a mindset of becoming “1 of 0” in your company. This means doing work that no one else does or offering a unique combination of skills that yields maximum return on investment. However, this doesn’t mean working longer hours. It’s about working smarter, not harder.

Network Building

Building a network is crucial. When you start at a company, focus on connecting with mentors, trainers, and key players. Identify who the top performers and decision-makers are, and build relationships with them. This doesn’t mean you spend all your time socializing, but rather have a strategic approach to networking.

Practical Example

When I started in tech support, I made it a point to connect with my trainers and mentors. They helped me succeed, and maintaining a good relationship with them was crucial. As I progressed, I identified the key players in my department and aligned my interests with theirs. For example, my interest in hardware led me to focus on teams responsible for that area. By building a reputation for having a solid tech background, I was able to transition from general support to specialized queries, making my workload more manageable and showcasing my value effectively.

Identify Your Aspirations and Build Strategic Relationships

It’s crucial to identify your career aspirations and align them with your background and the opportunities available within your organization. A common mistake people make is randomly picking colleagues to spend time with without considering how these relationships can help them progress.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with socializing broadly, it’s important to dedicate 10-20% of your time to building relationships with people who can significantly influence your career path. Here are two key strategies to achieve this:

1. Ask Good Questions:
   • Learn to ask insightful questions about the person’s job, role, responsibilities, and interests outside of work.
   • Good questions show that you care about their expertise and are genuinely interested in learning from them. Avoid asking basic or irrelevant questions, as these can undermine your credibility.
2. Connect with Their Interests:
   • Engage in conversations about their hobbies, passions, or any side projects they might have. This not only builds rapport but also opens up opportunities for deeper professional connections.
   • Relate their experiences to your background, which can lead to productive discussions and showcase your knowledge in relevant areas.

Setting Goals and Seeking Feedback

Building rapport with senior colleagues, managers, and leads involves setting clear goals and seeking feedback regularly. This demonstrates your commitment to growth and improvement. Here’s how to approach this:

• Express Your Passion:
  • Show genuine interest in your job and seek constructive feedback. Even if you’re not entirely passionate about the job, find aspects that you can be enthusiastic about.
• Ask for Feedback:
  • After working for a few months, ask your seniors for three specific items of feedback. This helps you understand areas for improvement and align your goals with the company’s expectations.
• Set Clear Goals:
  • Define what you want to achieve in your role. For instance, if you’re in tech support and want to move into a hardware team, make that your goal and seek advice on how to achieve it.
  • Communicate your goals and progress regularly to your seniors, showing that you’re proactive and focused on growth.

The Importance of Documenting Your Work

Documenting your work is a crucial habit that can significantly impact your career advancement. By keeping a record of your accomplishments, you can identify patterns, improve processes, and have tangible evidence of your contributions. Here’s how to do it effectively:

• Weekly Documentation:
  • At the end of each week, make brief notes about your projects, roles, and responsibilities. Include three bullet points on what you achieved that week.
  • Use tools like Google Keep or Notion to organize your notes.
• Identify Patterns:
  • Over time, you’ll notice recurring issues or successes. This can help you propose improvements or highlight your consistent performance to your managers.
• Use Templates for Efficiency:
  • If you notice common issues, create templates for responses or solutions. For instance, in tech support, if you frequently receive similar email queries, draft templates with placeholders for personalized responses. This saves time and ensures consistency.

Practical Example: Enhancing Email Support Efficiency

To illustrate the benefits of documenting and organizing your work, consider this example from a tech support role:

• Recognize Common Issues:
  • By documenting the types of email queries received, you might find that 60-70% of emails are about similar issues.
• Create Response Templates:
  • Develop templates for these common issues, including a salutation, acknowledgment of the issue, and links to support articles. This standardizes responses and reduces response time.

By implementing these strategies, you not only enhance your efficiency but also build a reputation for being proactive and strategic, which is essential for career growth.

How I Became More Efficient and Validated My Efforts

Utilizing Templates for Efficiency

I realized that creating templates for common email responses could significantly streamline my workflow. By spending a few hours initially to develop these templates, I was able to save a lot of time in the long run. This increased my efficiency, allowing me to handle more emails and provide better information with fewer errors.

The impact of these templates was evident when, months later, the team responsible for process development decided to create official templates. They were excited about the prospect of making their work easier, unaware that I had already built a library of 40-50 templates. However, the person assigned to this task felt threatened by my existing work, fearing it would devalue his efforts.

Overcoming Workplace Politics

Despite the initial resistance, the senior manager recognized the value of my templates. She reviewed them and acknowledged that they were better than the current ones, asking if they could use mine. I agreed, understanding the broader benefit to the team. This passive effort of creating and maintaining templates paid off when a contest was held to join the process development team. Although I placed third, my prior work on templates validated my skills and earned me a position on the team.

Strategic Career Growth

In a company where switching teams before a year was against the rules, I managed to change roles three times. This flexibility not only broadened my experience but also resulted in a salary increment. The key to my success was building the right network, seeking feedback, and documenting my work diligently. Identifying the right people to connect with and understanding their influence helped pave the way for my growth.

Providing Value and Seeking Validation

It’s crucial to provide value and validate it consistently. By taking feedback seriously and turning it into actionable goals, you can demonstrate your contributions effectively. Even if your efforts are not immediately recognized, persistence pays off. Sometimes, the company environment may not be conducive, but it’s essential to try and see the results.

The All-In Strategy

One advanced concept I practice is the “all-in” approach. This involves putting everything on the line and demanding significant rewards for your efforts. If you have consistently provided and validated value, you can negotiate boldly for better compensation or opportunities. This strategy works best when you can back it up with documented evidence of your contributions.

Dealing with Stagnation

Many people feel stuck in their jobs, blaming the environment for lack of growth. However, continuous complaining without taking action won’t change the situation. If you’re not progressing, it might be time to reconsider your approach or seek new opportunities. The tech industry offers numerous jobs, and freelancing is also a viable option.

Conclusion

Understanding your value and knowing how to validate it is crucial. If your efforts are not appreciated, it might be time to switch jobs. Life goes on, and it’s important not to waste years in a stagnant position.

As always, if you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to podcast.sknexus.com.

Prepared by Yousaf Babur

Further learning and references

https://sknexus.com/why-professionals-fail/
https://sknexus.com/validating-your-value-as-a-professional/
https://sknexus.com/adding-more-value-to-your-services/
https://sknexus.com/job-perks-and-benefits/

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As always –
Thank you for listening, please send any questions or feedback to podcast@sknexus.com
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