Skills. : Importance vs. Value

Skills are important as they have influence in determining our qualification in the workplace; often displaying our likelihood for success in a position. They also determine our value in the workplace, but not necessarily our importance. This may not seem like an influential topic, but if you've ever worked at a job that offers little autonomy in job function, you know that many people feel invaluable and unimportant to their organization.

There is a big difference regarding an individual's importance in a job and their value in a job, and it all relates to skill. The people at "the bottom" making all of the daily operational functions occur, are extremely important to the success of the organization, but truth be told they do not hold high value. These jobs require basic skills that are easy to find because they present basic problems that are easy to solve.

My friend Brady explained this to me with a very fitting analogy - "I think about people's value sort of like precious metals/gold. Gold is rare and sought after, so naturally, it has value. Likewise, aluminum is also a metal, extremely versatile, but the source is abundant. Basic skills are applicable in many settings, but they can be found anywhere. People possessing rare and highly sought after skills tend to have high value and high importance. People who possess skills that can be found most anywhere still hold high importance, but little value."

If you have a job, you are extremely important in the role you are playing. However, what makes you valuable is the skills you bring and the rarity of those skills. If you were to quit tomorrow, would the organization be able to replace you with someone who performs the job duty just as well? If the answer is a clear no, then you are likely highly valuable to your team and organization. If the answer is an unclear no, or a yes, then you may not be highly valuable - right now. So how can you increase your value? Increase your skills.

Skills will likely not improve on their own. Being intentional about improving your skill set is the best way to increase your value. Put yourself in situations that challenge the skills you want to improve and ask for advice from people who have already mastered those skills.

If you want to be important, any act of service/work will do. If you want to be valuable, invest in yourself so you can serve/work in areas that others can't.