Two Paragraph Perspectives: What Do You Bring to the Party?

Throughout the fall season of 2014, Barton Career Advisors will dedicate its industry pieces and blogging to a new series called Two Paragraph Perspectives. There is so much going on in our world and it is often difficult to consume an entire article, thought leadership piece, whitepaper, or news story. Our world communicates at lightning speed and most of that happens in 140 characters or less. For the previously mentioned reasons we will bring you key thoughts, insights, and questions in an easy to consume two paragraph format. Before the steam is finished rising off your morning coffee or tea you will be done reading our bi-weekly digest of all things career transition, personal brand management and outplacement best practices. We hope you are looking forward to this series written by our Founder and Managing Partner, Chris Barton.

Have you ever thought about what you bring to the party every day? Seriously. We all need to reflect on the value that we bring to our profession, our colleagues, and our industry. Now stop right there because you are already being led astray. I am confident that someone in your life has asked you a very similar question or has encouraged you to reflect, evaluate, and then act to increase your star power in your profession. The question is not wrong but the framing of the question most certainly points any bewildered individual in the wrong direction, just like a compass that has lost its true north.

A much better way of investigating your professional and personal worth is to evaluate the depth of influence you maintain with the people you have touched along your journey to this point. Relationships are nearly everything when it comes to growing as a human being. Forget about being a professional anything. I am confident that I read in some book somewhere that we should love one another. Focus on being a great human being who invests generously in others. Make a list of your core relationships: spouse, partner, friends, family, clergy, bosses and colleagues and go about asking them each where you stand with them and how you can get better. What you will learn will give you quite a few action items.