The only way to become attractive and consequently more valuable to the market is to have expert knowledge.
In 2008, the University of Utah football team was undefeated and ranked number two nationally. For Head Coach Kyle Whittingham, his years of experience finally paid off and his value as a coach skyrocketed. To keep him from accepting another position, the school doubled his salary from $600,000 to $1.2 million!
For most, it takes years to get to the expertise level of Coach Whittingham. However, high value is available to anyone willing to spend the time and energy required to gain the necessary skills and experience.
Here is the cycle: Skills and experience lead to expertise. Expertise increases value, which strengthens leverage in the market and creates more opportunities and choices. Value, leverage, and opportunities continue to grow as this pattern cycles over time, which gives you a greater ability to achieve your goals.
As you accumulate more value from your increasing expertise, you’ll have more leverage in the marketplace because there will be greater demand for your services.
Deion Sanders was one of the greatest cornerbacks ever to play football. He could close the gap between a football and a receiver better than anyone, resulting in an amazing career record of fifty-two pass interceptions. In 1995, several premier teams courted his services, causing the “Deion Sweepstakes,” as it was called in the media. Sanders signed a contract with the Dallas Cowboys ($35 million for seven years and a $13 million signing bonus), making him the highest paid defensive player in the NFL up to that time.
Sanders was attractive to the market because he built an expertise in a very specialized, highly-paid niche. As his skills and consequent value grew, demand for his work increased, which strengthened his leverage. Like Sanders, raising your value gives you greater power to choose your terms. You will have more “muscle” to determine how, when, where, and at what price you will offer your services. This hard-earned leverage empowers you with more choices and more opportunities to develop.
The high value/high leverage correlation leads to more choices in two significant ways. First, more opportunities become available to grow your expertise when you are valuable to the market. The best scholarships, contracts, and jobs go to the most valuable candidates.
For instance, because of your value, a highly satisfied client may recommend your services to a colleague, enabling you to increase your income. Second, high value/high leverage gives you increased power to choose how to accomplish your goals. Maybe you want to maintain your current income, but work half the hours.
Or you may wish to become better at what you do so that you increase your annual earnings. You may want to travel, or you may prefer to work from home. What would you choose? Whatever you desire, if you have high value, you will be better able to control your personal situation and assert your preferences. The more value you have, the more confident you will be. Use that confidence to help in achieving your goals.
Karen approached me at an industry trade show wearing a home-made tag around her neck that read, “#1 Salesperson.” I was a VP of Sales for a technology company and was not looking for a salesperson at the time. However, I ultimately hired her anyway because I saw that she could help me achieve my sales goals for that company.
She staked her claim on being a must-hire, valuable salesperson and had the courage to act on her assertion. The self-confidence she exuded immediately grabbed my attention. I hired her not only because of her qualifications, but also because her confidence made her value more attractive to me.
Some of the benefits of self-confidence are:
- Self-assured demeanor
- Poised tone of voice
- Relaxed facial expressions
- Initiative to ask meaningful questions
- Courage to negotiate personal preferences
- Consistent networking and prospecting
- Selectiveness in choosing work opportunities
