More Answers... (8/31/25 Newsletter): "I almost walked."
Hi Everyone,
Here's the blog version of the Sunday Evening "More Answers..." to get a friendly boost to setup your work week!
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Today's newsletter is about knowing your worth because of knowing your value. We've all been in that place where we have either felt invisible or seen-but-overlooked. There are strategies and tactics we can use to remedy those situations or to at least improve them...
"I almost walked..."
That was my friend's first response when I congratulated him for a promotion he received.
Me: "Hey! Congratulations on your promotion! Finally!"
Him: "I almost walked."
I. Almost. Walked.
(yes, he did thank me after that...)
Employees Who Are The Package
My friend and I met at the university we both worked at during the summer of COVID-19. I was asked to be a part of the university's re-opening strategy. It seemed, and was later proven, that I was the only employee in the entire university who knew how to do what needed to be done. I had also already earned a good reputation within the university so there was quick confidence, and I knew enough of how the university worked to be considered "the package" for what needed to be done.
My friend was on my extended Re-opening Strategy Team (specifically, the Testing & Tracing Task Force) as an expert in labor relations, which is a vital part of any initiative that requires the accelerated operational scale-up in front of us.
My first charge was to co-lead the stand up of the PCR Lab that would test for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material. Campus population (faculty, staff, students, and contractors) would swab their noses regularly; the PCR lab would test, detect, and communicate viral status: whether SARS-CoV-2 was detected or not detected.
The PCR lab build was a "ground up" and very complex build as labs go. We had eight weeks to physically build, operationalize, and receive initial CLIA approval; we had just six weeks from the time the full budget was approved. This included drafting appropriate job descriptions to interviewing, hiring, and training; from bringing in and validating the equipment, to running initial throughput studies to understand operational capacity and workflow; from properly training up PCR lab employees to tracking all training and creating proper quality, safety, and compliance protocols; from implementing the Lab Information Management System to finalizing the courier vendor transporting the samples from the testing (swabbing) sites to the PCR lab.
Two thirds of the way through the lab build, the actual testing (swabbing) sites stalled out, so I was tapped to lead the design and implementation of two testing (swabbing) centers where faculty, staff, contractors, students, and short-term visitors would swab their noses before the samples would be sent to the PCR lab.
One testing (swabbing) center was for asymptomatic, active surveillance, with regular testing every few days to get ahead of anyone unknowingly and asymptomatically infecting others.
The other testing (swabbing) center was for symptomatic community members who were presenting symptoms. Symptomatic testing confirmed whether the community member had developed COVID-19 from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Due to multiple delays in deciding the locations of these testing (swabbing) sites, the actual centers were designed, approved, and rolled out in just three weeks, and in a brute-force kind of way.
Such is the nature of clutch work.
I recall reminding senior leaders over and over how the testing centers for swabbing would be "functional, not elegant" due to the timeline AND due to the university being completely new to setting up any kind of health care and infectious disease detection operation. This is when I learned that I was in fact the only employee at the university with the depth and breadth of experience setting up a "commercial grade and scalable" operation of this kind.
As you can imagine, I was deeply grateful any time I had a chance to work alongside of fellow experts who I could lean on for help as it related to aspects of university operations I had very little experience in. I had been there a year full-time as a Professor of the Practice teaching the exact work I was doing: the business side of deep science, but that didn't mean I understood how a university-- and one without a medical school, only a small medical center with a contracted physician-- worked.
I was the package, but I didn't work with other "packages." Everyone had their one thing they did well, their one area of expertise, as you would expect at a university.
Until I met my friend, who, as it turns out, became the best team member out of the 80+ on my extended team. He is the only one I frequently stay in touch with, too.
Team Members Who Are The Package
That was the friend who was recently promoted. He not only offered expert advice to me, he also offered perspective, an open ear to be my sounding board, a deep level of respect for science and working within a regulated environment even though he had never been involved in that environment.
He, like me, came from industry, but his "industry" was a big time law firm in Boston. His credentials were and still are impressive, his work before and during his time at the university are lists-long, and he's a team player. He had decided to move into higher education in order to make a broader difference where possible versus taking on billable hours through client work. It was much less money, almost the same hours (sometimes seeming like more because of fewer support resources), lots more politics and frustration trying to bring a university along... but also an opportunity to make something better because of the experience he brought in.
He made the biggest difference for me at the time. I got to work alongside a team member who was also "the package." I felt so spoiled.
And yet... with all that... he had to threaten to leave before he received a well-earned promotion that he deserved a few years ago-- and that was just to bring him up to the level of his peers who had half the background and experience he has.
I know he's not alone. We've all been there... but here's where knowing your worth based on your value really matters.
And being in a position where you either 1) never need the threat to leave, or 2) can give the threat to leave in a way that makes the difference.
Know Your Worth So You Know Your Value...
Here are some tips and tricks to put you in the right spot:
- Gain insights to your strengths.I always recommend the Gallup CliftonStrengths® assessment as the gold standard for this. Gallup is well-known for their quantitative and qualitative research on organizational performance through employees, and their assessment offers reliability (it is consistent) and validity (it is accurate). Gallup not only offers your strengths, but also offers vital language and phrasing from which you can learn AND use.
- Be certain of the value you are adding to your organization in quantifiable ways-- your goals AND others' goals.With the backdrop of your strengths fresh in your mind, write out the value you are adding to your organization in terms of your results. Align this with your current goals as well as your achievements that might be contributing to "fringe" goals, or goals that aren't formally listed but enable good things for your company. Write out the value you are adding to your team and others, too. Your value goes beyond just your goals. Be the one who enables the world around you to achieve better results.
- Then take it a step further: talk about HOW you achieve those results, and think qualitatively: what is your working style and how does that reenforce, strengthen, and improve the culture? what is your teaming style and how does that enable the team to be more productive? how much success do you enable around you because of your approach?
Be the package employee AND the package team member, write it down, and practice how you'll talk about your impact in terms of your worth and your value.
There are things you can proactively do to avoid the "I almost walked" scenario, but not all cultures and work environments see or value the whole package. If you're in that environment, the best you can do for yourself is follow the steps above anyway-- they will come in handy during the interviews for your next job. (wink)
BOOSTER FOR YOUR WEEK!!!
Great Video to Increase Feeling Valued at Work
This week I offer a POWERFUL video called What to Do if You're Undervalued at Work. It's part of the Christine vs Work series and was originally published on Harvard Business Review's Ascend YouTube Channel in August 2022. It's now on the HBR channel and was posted about a year ago.
Hosted by Christine Liu and featuring Andréa Long, listed in the show notes as the Head of Talent Engagement at Upstart, I guarantee EVERYONE will relate to this video.And remember, if you have a business challenge or workplace issue... Ask Christa!
See you next week!!!
With kindness,
Christa
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