How to Identify Your Unique Value Proposition

We've covered a lot of ground over the past three-week blog-series. If you've been following the weekly series, at this point, you revealed your why, your superpowers, and your marketable skills.

Are you beginning to see a vivid picture of the unique, special person you are at this very moment, without doing a thing or changing anything? Now, let's bring it all together and connect to your "unique value proposition," what it is, and why it matters.



The following piece is an excerpt from my book released October 9th, 2017, Fearless Women at Work: Five Powerful Strategies to Thrive in Your Career and Life! "Your unique value proposition" is made up of three key components, your why (discussed in my blog three weeks ago), your superpowers (discussed two weeks ago), and your marketable skills (covered in last week's blog).

As I mentioned, your "unique value proposition" is intrinsic to your brand. It's what distinguishes you from others who presumably perform a role like yours.

When your unique value proposition resonates with others—employers, employees, peers, clients, business partners, friends, and so on—they will choose to do business or associate with you.

• Do you want to have the tools to position yourself attractively within your company or for a potential employer?
• To create the most value for your company, leverage your natural skills and passions, and change the world for the better?
• Do you want to boost your confidence in your personal life, feel good about yourself, and own your value as the person you are?

Your unique value proposition is a combination of the following three components:

• 1. Your "why," including what you think the world needs the most
• 2. Your superpowers—what you love, what you are great at, and all other attributes you uncovered about yourself
• 3. Your marketable skills, what you can get paid to do

The backdrop for your value proposition, the container for this combination, includes what's most important and meaningful in your life and a distinctive mix of your needs and values.

This combination of qualities, skills, values, and where you find meaning is what makes you uniquely you. You can see how it is impossible for two people to have an identical value proposition.

Why is this important?

So, now that you know this, what can you do with it? Here's a career-related example.

Picture this: You have a job interview for a role you are quite qualified to perform at a wonderful company, and you want to make a great impression. You've researched the company, asked a few of your connections on LinkedIn about what it's like to work there, about its culture, and you feel this can be a fruitful opportunity.

The day of the interview is finally here, and hands down you're prepared to elaborate on the required job qualifications, and you understand beyond a shadow of a doubt your unique value proposition. You're feeling confident and upbeat, you dress up for the occasion, looking neat and professional, well-groomed and centered.

It's finally showtime, and you meet and greet the interviewer. Using all your resources and insights about the job and about yourself, you articulate powerfully the relevant skills and experiences that qualify you for this role, which is pretty standard and vanilla.

However, the magic starts to happen when you formidably begin to sprinkle your answers with your gold dust. Consider what you need and value most that the position offers. What superpower qualities do you possess that would enhance your effectiveness in this role? What are the complementary marketable skills you bring to the table that are above and beyond those required for the role? Think about any aspect of your "why" that this role would fulfill.

Assuming you don't have 100 percent of the qualifications, you can also use your insights to elaborate on how your qualities would allow you to learn and grow into the other areas you're not directly experienced in.

Furthermore, you assertively ask intelligent questions to help you assess whether the work, the team, the environment, and the company would be a good fit for you. Asking these questions is one example of the power of connecting to your unique value proposition. No more average interviews for you!



Breaking It Down

First, in this example, the energy that you started out this entire process with is probably unlike anything else you have experienced before in a job interview.

Many of us would gladly choose going to a dentist over interviewing for a job. However, having such a solid grasp of the role and your unique value proposition can give you the confidence you need to start off on the right foot.

Second, if you were on either side of the conversation during this interview, I think you would be quite engaged—perhaps even feel a little excited—about what you're saying and hearing.

As the employer, it's not often we run into job candidates who can do what I describe here. We're desperate to recruit the right candidate who's a good fit and stop wasting time, money, and effort looking.

Third, with such clarity about what matters to you, you are engaging the interviewer and asking questions to ensure this is the right environment for you. Asking questions makes the interviewer want to sell you the job by promoting all the benefits the company and the role can offer you.

By knowing your value proposition as well as the back of your hand, you balance out the power in the interview process. As much as you want to be hired for the role, and as much as you want to find the right fit, feel engaged by what you can contribute and learn. Work with people who believe in the team and mission of the firm. A company also wants to hire a qualified candidate who's a good fit for the role and the company.

Pretty cool, right?

Your Unique Value Proposition In a Nutshell

You can follow a similar approach and leverage your unique value proposition in other situations, too, such as when special projects or stretch assignments come up, those important projects which push your knowledge and skills to new heights and help you grow in your role or field. You can make a compelling case and throw your name in the hat by having a similar conversation with the head of the project, the manager, your mentor, or sponsor.

Want to negotiate for a promotion or salary increase?

Want to go after your dream job?

Want to move to Hawaii and work and enjoy the lifestyle you desire?

Get clear on your unique value proposition; your courage and fearlessness will follow.

What Can You Do Next?

Are you a talented corporate professional looking for a new job opportunity? It's a very hot job market. Join us to learn more about how to stand out and accelerate getting the attention of recruiters and hiring managers to land a job you love: Land A Job You Love! Masterclass Overview

In the meantime . . .

Be fearless! (act despite the fear)

Dr. Ginny A. Baro is a Fortune 100 executive coach for talented professionals at all levels of management, speaker, and #1 bestselling author of "Fearless Women at Work." For more of her work, join her community to receive valuable strategies delivered to your inbox and access today Chapter 11 of her #1 bestselling book to learn how to tap into your unique leadership style, career and life ambition, earning power, and more! Read her blog, get a copy of her new book, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Originally published on Fearless Women at Work.

Opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of WITI.