Being Undervalued
An authentic and slightly irreverent blog on the applied dimensions of leadership & change...
My Crap
Your Crap
Our Crap
Everybody’s Crap.
Photo Courtesy of @Akshar_Dave, Unsplash
There is nothing worse (in my opinion) than being told “you don’t know what you’re talking about” when you speak your mind and your perspective from your vantage point. That statement is a cruel putdown designed to shut you up…often because you have a valid point! But you may still feel smaller, uninformed, out of your depth, and allow self-doubt to slowly seep in. Crap! You’re not alone.
Organizations (aka the people who manage them) have historically dismissed the views, insight, experience, and expertise of others that do not fit their paradigm. The toxic leaders and saints alike can’t help this subconscious reflex…but they can help solve the problem. Why should they?
You could easily tell me, but I'll lay it out from my perspective. If crushing your employees’ spirit, motivation, creativity, and productivity aren’t worthy enough factors, the how about these:
Your employees may not see what’s going on at your level but they know your customer better than you do.
Your employees may not understand the pressure you’re under but they have skills and abilities beyond their job descriptions that you don’t even know about (or remember), let alone use, that could really help you out.
Your employees may have an isolated understanding of the organization’s work but they don’t want that; they crave context as well as purpose and are full of fresh perspectives on innovations, improvements, and more.
So let’s cut the crap, shall we? Competition is too great, market wins too fleeting, and service needs too dire, to waste talent and energy. Here’s how to start…
When you start acknowledging the capacity you have but aren’t allowed to use, given the opportunity to use, and feel called to use, you’ve taken the first step. You know you have these feelings of being under valued when you find yourself wanting to say something in a meeting but hold yourself back because you feel (or fear) it is not you place to speak up. Or, you know this because you have spoken up and have been ignored or had your input dismissed.
Now that you’ve acknowledged this in yourself, realize that almost everybody feels this way. We are wasting over half of our capacity by letting it fall to the floor. Cut the crap. Speak up and stand up for your viewpoint. And…
Do the same for others.
Drawing out other’s viewpoints, experience, and expertise from their entire career, not just their current role, is a good way to start acknowledging and aligning this untapped capacity with organizational needs. Valuing individuals and what they bring to the table from their whole self (life experiences, career, and job with you) means that you encourage their voices but are not held hostage by them. Valuing means factoring them into your thinking and helping them shape it, not control it. But they will only feel valued if you tell them how it shaped your decisions and your actions. This is how you demonstrate that you value it. But this is not only necessary for others that you work with…
Do it for the entire organization.
Multiply the above by each individual in your organization and you’ll see how complexity is born. Everyone has untapped capacity and the yearning to be valued. Whether it is for just doing their job, giving that little extra, or for all of the thoughts and ideas trapped in their minds, just hoping to be set free. It doesn’t matter that they get a paycheck for what they do. They want to know that you see what they do, that it means something to you and to the organization. They don’t want an award, just for you to demonstrate that you know, appreciate, and care about their contributions and understand that they have more insight to offer. This happens when a human being asks them how it is going and what is on their minds…and then listens and responds with patience, kindness, useful information and actions. Teams, departments, and functional areas need it too.
You cannot job this out to another individual, process, tool, or technique. Those of us who’ll admit to having tried know it doesn’t work. The key ingredient to showing others that you value what they currently do, and what they can do but haven’t the opportunity to do, is you. You don’t need to be a senior leader to let your organization know that you value each individual. You can say it and show it in every interaction. Better still, start assessing how effective you and your organization are at valuing your people. The need to feel valued does not just belong to the individuals and groups that make up your organization…
Your community needs to know that you/the organization values them.
Communities mobilize when they deeply care. Whether it is outrage, grief, support, or celebration, emotions are in play. That is what caring is about; showing that you have feelings for the feelings of others and what they bring to the table. Valuing others is about showing that you care. After all, you want everyone to care about you, your organization and whatever it delivers to the marketplace whether you are non-profit or for-profit. So the crap to cut through here is wanting employees, customers, and stakeholders in the community to show that they value you without consistently showing that you value them. They too have untapped capacity to offer that they want you to value if not use. You can begin to show your local and global community that you value them the same way you do with the individuals around you. Ask, listen, and share what you’ve learned from them and help them understand how it shapes your actions.
© 2019 Stacie L L Morgan. All rights reserved.