Replaceable or Irreplaceable?
Image credit: Shelby Nicholl, Sainte Chapelle in Paris - this stained glass masterpiece is definitely irreplaceable.
Alright, let's drop a truth bomb: unless you're a solopreneur owner, you're replaceable in the workplace. CEOs bite the dust and get replaced. Presidents pass the torch. But here's the kicker – you're irreplaceable to YOU. Your loved ones can't fill your shoes.
When we think about personal value propositions, it's often all work-focused. The value we bring to the 9-to-5 in exchange for payments from our clients or the corporation. Yet, there so much more to us than our job titles. The irreplaceable parts are the experiences, talents, and activities that light a fire in our souls.
I spent 25 years in corporate America. I had a dream career I never thought possible as a child, but guess what? I felt lost and seriously undervalued. Why? I traded the work that lit up my world for roles that paid handsomely (talk about a gendered phrase!) but left me battling constantly, draining the joy out of my dream career.
Enter Muriel Network and, whew, I found my work joy again! Connecting people? ✅ Writing and creating? ✅ Learning? ✅✅✅ What I wish? I wish I had realized that I was missing a huge chunk of myself EARLIER. ⌛️
So, here's the deal. I hope you're not MIA from your own life. I hope you feel like YOU, rocking your work, and not letting the soul-sucking happen to you. But, I rarely find a woman, especially a corporate leader, who doesn’t feel like they are missing a piece of themselves. And, that’s NOT okay.
If you're that woman feeling a little lost, here's a simple 30-minute exercise for you this week:
Get out a timer (can be your phone or a kitchen timer – does anyone still have those?) and your computer or journal. Open up to a blank page. Get ready to do five blocks of writing.
Set a timer for 5 minutes and reflect: As a child, what did you dream of becoming? What were your favorite activities?
Set a timer for 5 minutes and reflect: What are your favorite parts of the work you do today – the parts where you have a full body “yes”?
Set a timer for 5 minutes and reflect: What are some experiences you had in life that give you a unique perspective compared to others?
Set a timer for 5 minutes and reflect: List your favorite life activities that you'd do 24/7 if they paid the bills.
Set a time for 10 minutes and reflect: Draft your value proposition (recommend still keeping it career-related for max usefulness). Review it and challenge yourself to weave in MORE of YOU - your unique life experiences and favorite activities to better reflect your complete self.
Here’s mine:
Combining my 25-year career with constant new learning, I create community, content, talks and coaching that enable women in wealth management to flourish (i.e., achieve massive career and personal success)
Remember, these statements are snapshots, not carved in stone. Mine will evolve, and that's a good thing. What I love is that it aligns with my purpose and uses words like create, community, content, talks, and coaching – the stuff that lights me up.
If you’re a wealth planner or advisor, your value proposition has a direct, immediate use – it’s how you deliver value to clients. And, in a marketplace crowded with male advisors, a value proposition that reflects you as a woman will stand out. But more than just differentiation for winning clients, the value prop exercise puts you in the driver’s seat. You’re saying “Here’s who I am. If there’s a fit, let’s work together.” It’s a different “sales” method – one of attraction rather than persuading.
For corporate leaders, crafting a personal value proposition puts us in the driver's seat, not our bosses or colleagues. We define ourselves, making it easier for others to work with us. Can you imagine if you knew the other person’s key value and could just immediately jump to working together vs. posturing?
As a woman in wealth management, I hope you’ll use your personal value proposition as a power move. Differentiate yourself and take responsibility for shaping your professional journey. You only have one life. You are a goddamn cheetah. Let’s be a cheetah and own it. As we love to say at Muriel, let’s do it together. 🚀
Disclosure — In order to grow our business, we sometimes earn an affiliate commission on the sales of products we link to. We feature only items we genuinely love and want to share, and readers never pay more for products.
