Leading Thought: Whether you are a current student trying to land that first internship, a seasoned corporate veteran trying to close a major deal, or an entrepreneur forging your own career path from nothing, demonstrate that you are a value add.
I recently had the honor of being invited back to the Krannert School of Management by the School of Management Employers Forum (SMEF) to join an alumni panel focused on advising fellow Boilermakers eager to enter the workforce. On this seven person panel, I was surrounded by an incredible wealth of knowledge that ranged from recent graduates leading successful careers in banking to experienced professionals with decades worth of consulting experience. While each of us had varying pieces of valuable insight and useful advice with respect to navigating these often dreaded, nerve inducing career fairs, one main thing that I believe is crucial both for the career fair and beyond is an idea that each of us on the panel agreed upon: being a value add.
Now, this concept sounds good, but what does it mean in practice? How does one add value? Based upon experience, and bearing in mind that my business partner and I are still in the early stages of forging our own career path, one can add value for their coworkers, their clients, and their companies through practicing any/all of the core areas below:
Logical & Critical Thinking: Synthesize information efficiently and understand the broader, ever-changing implications and applications of that information.
Conscientiousness: Developing, adhering, and defending high standards makes all the difference between getting someone’s business and keeping someone’s business.
Connecting: People don’t do business with other businesses, people do business with other people - that trust can take years to build, but only seconds to destroy.
Effective Communication: Clearly conveying an idea, outlining an objective, or telling a story as well as the manner in which such is performed matters more than anything.
Marketing & Selling: Nothing ever sells itself and if you can’t sell what brings others value, then you won’t have a lasting career or business.
Leadership: This has less to do with telling your team what to do in order to move yourself forward and more about inspiring, entrusting, and empowering your team in order to move everyone forward - hold yourself and others accountable.
Constant Education & Training: In a world that is in constant flux, there are always harder challenges to address, new skills to refine, and more knowledge to obtain - don’t get complacent and don’t get comfortable.
Of course, there are more ways in which one can add value to those with whom they conduct business. The core areas listed above are broad, but they have a strong impact when put into practice consistently and help to keep the main thing in the front of your mind - adding value wherever and whenever you can. Demonstrate how you can add value to other people’s lives and they’ll likely want to work with you for years to come.
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