Start Here: Know Your Value

You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.” – Zig Ziglar

“With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.” – Dalai Lama

 

So often, the challenges we encounter – as individuals or as organizations – can reveal at the core, a lack of a foundational understanding of and belief in our own value (the impact we have on others when we feel joy).

And that, can inadvertently cause actions and re-actions that waste time, create suffering and paralysis. For mission-driven leaders and non-profits here to serve – that’s not okay!

While we can often sense when others lack self-confidence or awareness of their awesomeness, it can hide in plain sight as the root of our own personal and organizational behaviors, traditions and even the best practices – that keep us stuck.

Connecting with this foundational self-knowledge of our impact and thus value is part of what I teach in The Career (Life!) Breakthrough Academy to help successful leaders re-position themselves and curate their Next Chapters of leadership and life.

This week I kept hearing themes around me that all indirectly illustrated how critical it is to know your value, and why you matterso that you can make decisions and adopt strategies to move you or your organization forward:

Ford Foundation president Darren Walker was interviewed on 60 minutes about the need for unrestricted donations (yes!):

“It is both arrogant and ignorant to believe that you can give money to an organization for your project without recognizing that non-profits also have overhead costs.”

Many thought leaders have been beating this drum for years, and yet much of the non-profit sector hesitate to boldly and transparently advocate (and celebrate) the investment needed to move the needle, make a difference, and deliver on a mission.  On the surface there can appear to be good reasons for not being “able” to invest. Go a little deeper and a lack of understanding and value of one’s impact appears. This then translates into low salaries that create constant turn-over, decisions made out of fear and scarcity, and meansuring success only by “surviving” not thriving. 

I’ve found that it is only by understanding your value that the return on that investment is clear and you can create the outcomes you want (and that others need you to achieve for the greater good). 

Lynne Twist, a recognized global visionary committed to alleviating poverty and hunger and supporting social justice and environmental sustainability, observed that the use of the word non-profits as an industry feebly describes what we are NOT, and she challenged audiences to determine what we stand FOR:

“A stand comes from the heart, from the soul. A stand is always life affirming. A stand is always trustworthy. A stand is natural to who you are. When we use the phrase “take a stand” I’m really inviting you to un-cover, or “unconceal,” or recognize, or affirm, or claim the stand that you already are. When you take a stand, it actually does shift the whole universe and unexpected, unpredictable things happen.”

Again, to DO this, requires you to know who you already are.  And, that is a big, big question that needs to be answered – first.

And finally, last Monday in the Mindful Leadership Group as we continued to peel the onion layers back on “Authentic Leadership,” the group was able to draw upon their “evidence of impact” to discern their value, know what they needed to achieve it, knowing that their impact matters. 

Each person and mission driven organization has a purpose, a true north, and must connect to who they already are, and what they stand FOR.  It is only armed with this self-clarity, that resulting strategies, next steps and decisions can be confidently taken.

I invite YOU to connect to your “Evidence of Impact,” your true value, so that you can have the impact on others you are meant to have – with joy, ease and sustainability. [Note The Career (Life!) Breakthrough Academy walks you step-by-step through a process to do just that.]

As always, I love hearing from you and knowing how YOU are mindfully curating the life of your dreams, and what your impact and value are!

To your success,

Kathryn

Next Chapter Coach
Creator of The Career (Life!) Breakthrough AcademyTM

I invite you to check-out some of my most commented-on blogs on this topic:

P.S. – This time of year can be challenging if you’re at a Crossroad Moment, trying to figure out what to do, what is possible, what you (really) want, and what you should do next.  If this is YOU or someone you know, I’ve opened up times on my calender to get on the phone for a confidential call.

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