Take Ownership of Your Value


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Take Ownership of Your Value

Like many of you, memories of my twenties are few, but focused.

One of them involves a bar. Regulars called it the Brunny, but its official name was The Brunswick House. Established in eighteen something, it was an expected mishmash of dark wood, creaking stairs and ripped carpet. Rumour had it the pitchered beer was recycled, you get the idea.

At the back of this bar was space for a musical act, designed to hold roughly 250 people. But when the bands weren’t there, the Brunny filled the floor with picnic tables and that’s where most of the drinking happened. Of course, 250 people plus picnic tables made for a fire hazard, so you’d make a deal with the bouncers: stay drinking as long as you stay seated.

Bathroom breaks were permitted, but discouraged. Stand up to visit another table and you’d be told to sit down—three strikes and you were out. But the music, the energy and the light dictatorship made for a good story, so your fun was guaranteed.

Creating your own work life story

For most of us, our tastes matured. We got to try things on, keep what we like and throw out what stopped making sense. Today, I wouldn’t sit at any picnic table for six hours, and the thought of starting my night at 11pm literally makes me chuckle. Quality wine, deeper friendships and smaller restaurants.

Growing into our social lives taught us about ownership. Our work lives? Not so much.

Think of your last corporate retreat. The location was chosen and your itinerary was locked—opening announcements, workshops, maybe some assigned team play. Expectations were met because someone in another department figured out these exercises would drive more profit. So your paycheck would be guaranteed (at least, that was the idea.)

According to McKinsey, if a company was listed on the Standard & Poor’s 500 in 1935, its lifespan was 90 years. By 1958, that number dropped to 61 years. By 2027, McKinsey suspects that 75% of the companies listed today will be gone.

It’s closing time.

From corporate to personal ownership

Very soon, a salary will be as rare as a pension, and the employees that do have one will sacrifice most of their freedom to keep it. The rest of us will realize how little our work lives ever belonged to us; we traded our ownership for the illusion of a guarantee.

And without that salary, you’ll be the new owner of your work life—and owners need an offer.

Your offer needs to parse the experience you acquired working for someone else, and create a product or service with you at its core. Ignore your title. Dig past the retreats, the meetings, and the lunch room catch-ups. Isolate the moments when you were invaluable to your boss and it cost you nothing. That intersection will reveal a combination of hard and soft skills that is unique and repeatable. Wrap that around a customer need and you’re halfway there.

Here’s the good news: you’ve already figured out what works for you! You’ve kept the best of your twenties and graduated into a more introspective grownup. You also know which environments give you energy, how much scheduling you need to perform at your best, and when to cut out early. The connection between those top notes will reveal an offer driven by agency and intention.

Here’s to fine wine and finer work!

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The Art of Being Steve Martin


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