 In this video I'd like to talk about what it means to identify your professional value and why that's important as an employee So I want to first start by talking about Gilligan's Island I don't know if any of you are my age or you may not have even watched Gilligan's Island But I loved Gilligan's Island as a kid growing up And and I loved just the collection of people that were there and in different times They all seem to come together But my favorite probably was the professor he was the one to me who made the most sense to be there He was the one that they couldn't do it out and I often wondered why is he hanging around with this group of people? I mean, I know he stuck there with him, but he's the guy who comes up with all the ideas He's the guy who puts it all together and the other people just kind of seem to mess it up You know, he seems to be the all-star of this team even though the others are more popular probably the professor wasn't the most popular but to me he made the most sense and My question is what can we do to be the professor of our team at work? Not that you're working with a group of misfits or who are just thrown together or whatever But what can we do to pull our weight there? The professor always pulled his weight You know, everybody had their own little skills that they put into Gilligan's Island But the professor was the one who consistently pulled his weight amongst that group So what can you do to become the professor of your group at work? You see most people spend a lot of their career building up to Getting in line with the company and just you know contributing online with the company and that's great There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with with finally being on pace to to be where the company is at But what the company really needs from you what your organization really needs from you is to help them excel To help pull them up and that requires you to be above them You to add value to this organization in such a way that pulls the curve upward even more, right? If you're just in line with that company curve, then you're not really pushing them forward in the way that they need So what that company needs is for you to take off like a like a rocket ship and really pull them along So a few questions that we can start with first of all, what is the mission of this organization? What's the mission of this organization? We need to understand before we can understand anything else Where we're at? What's the mission of this organization? Remember in a previous video we talked about how mission is where that company is at right now What is it that they're trying to accomplish in present day? Okay, so what's the mission? What is our goal here as an organization? What are we going for right now? And what can I do to kind of help with that? But but then also we need to understand what's the vision of this organization not just where are we right now? But where is this organization trying to go? What's the vision of this organization? And then finally, you know, what's my role here? What do I do? What's my job description? What is my role? What is my position, you know, which which part of this, you know Cruel castaways am I am I gilligan am I the skipper am I Marian am I the professor? What's my role? What's my particular job here? And then the real final question is how does that? Intersect how does my role help take us from the mission of the organization where we're at now to the vision of that organization? It's it's fine and dandy again to be on pace to help with a mission and help them achieve what they're doing now But if you really want to excel and really want to benefit that organization to the highest possible value Then you need to figure out how can I help us move from where we're at now to where this organization wants to be and needs to be in the future? And how can I do both really? What's my role in helping us maintain our status right now and helping us fulfill our mission as it presently stands? And also how can I cross over into helping us achieve that vision that the organization is shooting for? So what's the intersection there? What is my role in all of that? And how does it fit in with everybody else's role and all of that right? So so we need to understand what's the mission of the organization right now? What's the vision of that organization in terms of where they want to go and where do I fit in there? So what can we do then with that in mind with your role in mind? What can you do to add value at work to really significantly add value to work? Well First you can be a team player You know you can if you're going to be on the team So to speak you're going to be part of that organization Then you can make sure that you're in line with their current mission mission and their current vision And and if you're not able to do that then you probably need to find someplace else to be You know another organization where you can that you can work and that's not to be harsh But if you're if you're not doing that if you're not able to work as a team player there And to help contribute to their to their mission and their vision Then you're really acting as an anchor and holding them back Okay, so you need to find a way that you can Be a team player that you can get on board that we a way that you can contribute significantly And be a part of that group as they make their efforts toward becoming who they're going to become You can be collaborative you can be willing to work With other people you can pitch in you can understand that you may not have all the answers You're a piece of that puzzle But there are other pieces of that puzzle as well And so we need to work together we need to to work effectively as a team And so you can be collaborative you can be part of that solution in that way You can be a contributor you can put your best work in you can really add to the value of that team by By just you know doing your Piece as best as you possibly can you can contribute in other ways as well That's great, but what they really need from you is to fulfill your responsibilities first That that's first and foremost so you can be a contributor in that way And then you can start to pitch in in other ways and and allow the organization to use you in other ways as they are able to You can be flexible you can understand that there may be some movement There may be some changes that take place You may need to move from one role to another and maybe contribute in other ways that that aren't really foreseen When you're first hired, but but that's part of again being on a team You know when you're on a team and you're used to playing shortstop But all of a sudden you know if they have another shortstop somebody else that can play shortstop But their center fielder gets hurt and they ask you to move You know you do that you make that adjustment Even if you you're a better shortstop than the other person It's still going to be better to have somebody who can play shortstop and somebody who can play center field rather than you say No, I'm a shortstop and that's it and then there's a huge gap in center field because nobody can really cover that the way you can We need to be flexible. We need to do you know, again, what's best for the team and and what's best overall We need to be positive You know, there are lots of things that are going to go wrong. You're going to have failures You're going to have changes in these organizations You can have things policies that you may not like overall But in the end we're there to pull in the same direction We need to be positive about these things that doesn't mean you can't express and say look I don't think this is a great idea. I think there's a better way to do this But in the end when that decision has been made that the organization is going to handle it this way You need to get on board and be positive about the way that's going to be handled Be positive in in making that be a positive change and and just have the right attitude as you move forward That will really add a lot of value if you can have that kind of attitude And then be forward thinking before thinking what needs to be done next That doesn't mean get 10 steps ahead of everybody else But but if you see something that needs done and you see that you can contribute And you see that it's not going to create an issue for others in the organization Then go ahead and do it. I mean if you know what the next step is You don't and you don't necessarily need to be told Then go ahead and take that next step Again without getting extending too far out in front of everybody else and without overreaching But but just before we're thinking be thinking about how can I help make things run a little more smoothly around here? So in the end all of these things are going to add value and that's really what you want You want to be value-added you want to fulfill your role to the best your possibility right fill a hundred percent of your role And then add another five or ten percent. Where can I pitch in on everything else? You don't have to do everything else and you certainly don't want to get in the way of everybody else when they're trying to do their job But how can I pitch in how can I be of assistance to other people? How can I take that one little additional step to make things easier down the road? How can I help us move beyond just what we're doing today into what we want to be doing tomorrow and the next day in the future? You can add value in those ways all within the structure of that team again Not looking to make a name for yourself, but doing it has benefit to to everybody again everybody pulling in the same direction You can add value That's really how we can identify and then add to our professional value by understanding the organization's mission and vision And where we fit into that a few questions about any of that don't hesitate to shoot me an email I'd be happy to respond to any emails and chat with you about it over email But in the meantime really think carefully about what role it is you you play in your current organization Or what you would like to play what role you would like to play in an organization And and how you can best achieve that and add value to the organization along the way