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Outside of initialisms that have not been spelled out in their first use, I get tired of hearing the question, "what is the value proposition?" as if most people think in such a concrete and succinct term. Not to be trite or overly simplistic, but most people think about needs being met in one, albeit maybe two (2) dimensions. Don't get me wrong. It is important to know what you and your product bring to the table, but there might be a better, more simpler question at-hand. The better question might sound something like this, "what can/do you offer to meet need X?" Why might someone consider you and what you are offering? What if we turned that question inward? Is there a parallel for us as individuals? I'd argue it is, "What do I offer that others might benefit from? "
Nobody ever walks up to you and says, "you are nice. you are kind. you are smart. No one else offers what you do." More often than not, people approach you with a specific need in mind that they think you can meet. You see this frequently in mentee-mentor relationships, where it is critical for a need-value match to be made. What if we took time to get to know ourselves such that we could operate more effectively with what we have been given? What if we owned our own value proposition?
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Recently, I attended a conference and one of the session topics reminded me of my need to take inventory of what I like to do, where I think God has gifted me, where I have been affirmed by others, and my experience. Why? While there may be some similarities to others, these things are collectively and uniquely me. These are elements that do not depend on position or money; they depend on identity. A combination of the answers to the inventory questions will likely makeup how I will be remembered. While we may be tempted to describe ourselves by actions, our identity should precede action, not the other way around. I am not a human-doing. We are human-beings; it is our identity. Not everything that describes us defines us, but what defines us definitely describes us. After asking myself these series of inventory questions, I then took each a step forward to ask how might I use what I am to serve others: in the workplace, at church, and in relationships. I came up with a shortlist of bulleted offers, benefits, or as the fancy schmmancy say, "the value proposition." Some of the best people I know operate in their lane: their value proposition. I'd challenge you to do the same with this analogy in mind. We are tempted to look at marina and see many of the same boat, docked and floating based upon the current. But, in reality, we are seeing many different boats adjacent to each undulating uniquely. Even the same boat make and model has been through different circumstances. As are the boats, so are we.
Who are you? What value can you contribute? Where are you striving to deliver that value? Join the #QuedUpConversation.
Photo by k-e-k-u-l-é on Pixabay
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