“What is the value I provide?”

“What am I bringing to the table?”

I’ve asked these questions a fair amount recently. New work. New responsibilities. New challenges.

The problem I have is thinking that the only real value I can provide has to do with my outputs. My deliverables.

And, let’s be clear, outputs and deliverables are expected and necessary. And deliverables are valuable. 

But are the outputs the value?

Value is provided in a lot of different ways. A simple breakdown of personal value proposition could look like this:

• Skills

• Wisdom

• Inspiration

Here’s the catch:

There must be a significant amount of input before the expectation of valuable return.

Before skills - training and practice. Hours. Sometimes years.

Before wisdom - experience in problem-solving. The hard work of hard knocks.

Before inspiration - a student of human behavior and what motivates people.

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Take in the right things. With intention. Value begins with input, not output.

Otherwise, we have nothing to give.