Maintaining a Balance.

By Dwight Comer CPIM CIRM CSCP

Yes it is probably true. You do things that others wouldn’t do. You take on tasks that others won’t even bother with. You have talents and abilities that aren’t fully appreciated by your boss and by others you work with. You bring more value to the process than you are given credit for. It is also probably true that you put in more hours than your counterparts or at least put more work into your hours than your fellow workers. However your value in the organization is still based upon the perception of others, because perception is the reality (unfortunately theirs and not yours).

It’s important to follow me on this but if others don’t fully appreciate your full value than leveraging yourself above that value could cost you everything. I’ve seen it happen more than once through the years, someone believes they are invaluable to their group and they overplay their hand. It’s difficult to do but try to see your value through the eyes of others. There are usually sufficient clues to determine this. Once you have determined how others view you then work to improve in those areas where they don’t give you high marks. Amazingly enough; this rule applies to marriages, friendships, organizations (like volunteer work) as well as your job/career.

We have already agreed that it’s very likely that you are more valuable than others probably realize. But being able to get others to see your full contribution (i.e. value) can be tricky. For instance, once your gone they will realize all that you’ve been doing, because now it won’t get done. That approach to showing your value doesn’t really help you. So that approach is too late.

Okay, so we know you won’t always be fully appreciated. Things will happen that will be outside of your control. You be made the fall guy for the inter-office politics. You will be assigned things where you really cannot control the outcome. Others will be recognized for things that you actually achieved (or at least were the prime motive force), again this will transpire for political reasons. At times it just isn’t easy and it definitely isn’t fair. But that’s life so get over it.

My point is this, that despite all of these pitfalls you must believe in yourself. You really do bring special abilities and qualities to your position. This may not be appreciated by anyone but you. But at least you need to recognize your worth. Someone has to believe in you even if it‘s only you. If your confidence gets down then your ability to function is for sure to suffer. We don’t want to overstate our value but we must realize that we for sure do have real value.

One of the things that helped me to stay on track are my credentials. For years my CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) was something that almost no one around me had. They probably didn’t understand the effort that was required to achieve that level of professional accomplishment, but I knew. It kept me on track when the going was tough. It helped me maintain an equilibrium concerning the various business issues that I was assigned.

Through some hard work I eventually was able to get my CIRM (Certified Integrated Resource Management) certification and also through some additional effort I received my CSCP (Certified Supply Chain Professional). That was a great deal of knowledge about how to make a business function in ways that traditional thinking and training couldn’t. I also invested a fair amount of work in completing two Masters Degrees.

You might consider developing more knowledge that goes beyond just the cursory understanding of essential business skills. If the idea of having a worth that you can bank on appeals to you, then consider investing yourself in your future through additional training. Anything you can achieve may just give you a definite edge over your competition.

As your fellow Supply Chain Today bloggers, we wish you the best and for our part we will share a host of ideas and concepts to try to advance your marketability. Good luck with your pursuits, we are hoping the best for you.