February 15, 2022

Do you recognize your value?

A leader recently shared the disconnect experienced between the words “good job,” and the mismatched actions when the just-praised plan got shot down. When actions outweigh the words, people struggle to see their value.

Why do we struggle to see our value?

A while back, I posted something about value on LinkedIn and captured this comment:

“Food for thought: does one actually posses said value, or was it a ‘value’ given by others? Because if one has not actually worked and got value, no such value exists…”

In this comment lies the answer.

Are you dependent on someone else to define your value?

If so, why would you give that power to them?

If we allow other people to define our value, they can easily take it away.

We need to recognize our value. To ‘cognize’ is to perceive, to know, or to be aware of.

Each of us has value, but we get disconnected from it. It gets hard for us to see our own value. The key is to re-cognize it. To again know, see, or gain awareness of our own value.

Our true value is intrinsic.

Our value comes from our struggles, solved problems, and conflicts resolved. Our story is the record of the characters, conflicts, and resolutions on our journey.

Take a moment to celebrate your story, your value, and recognize (re-cognize) the value is yours — and it was all along.

About the Author Michael Santarcangelo

The founder of Security Catalyst, Michael develops exceptional leaders and powerful communicators with the security mindset for success.

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