What do you bring to the table?
That question would be easy to answer in a business setting, a transaction, or even a family dinner; However, when asking a person, it becomes a complex equation that elicits introspection and perhaps a bit of self-assessment. What do you “personally” bring to the table?
Before you answer that, you should consider intrinsic value. No, not in the business sense, but in the human sense, hard right? The intrinsic value of a person is defined as the inherent worth we all have, regardless of contributions to society. But if you dive deeper into what a person is worth, you may be surprised. Society constantly views, analyzes, studies, and compares the value of a man or woman to the collective we call “society” as if setting the bar by which we all try and often fail to jump. This creates a stereotype that sometimes limits our ability to reach our maximum potential. For example, if your job is landscape or gardening, you may be considered less capable than, say, a CEO. Soon, you start to believe that you can never be a CEO, or that the bar is just too high to jump.
The proverbial bar is lower than you think. You see, most CEO’s had humble beginnings, and no, I am not saying they were born poor, although many were. I am referring to their yet undeveloped intrinsic value. Perhaps their age, the lack of experience, or the fact that they spent too much time in a classroom and not enough time developing real-world interpersonal skills, all could have the same “bar too high effect on them.” Case in point is a friend I met when I started college. His name was Joseph “Joe,” as I called him, had been attending college for three years by the time we met in a marketing class. I started college late in life. Joe was near graduation, and extremely smart, but I quickly realized that in social settings, he was very reserved. He would often take a step back when I asked him to join a group conversation, or when I tapped his shoulder to join in and give an opinion. “This was Joe’s proverbial high bar.” As we spent more time together, it dawned on me that he had all the academic qualifications and desire to do great things, but he lacked life experience. I also noticed that other classmates looked past Joe and never attempted to interact with him. Joe essentially brought nothing to the table and had yet to develop and share his intrinsic value.
• The Landscaper already jumped the high bar set by society. He demonstrates his intrinsic value in the beauty of the yards his company mows.
• The CEO’s of the world were able to jump their own higher bar. They now show their intrinsic value by how well they lead a company.
• As for Joe, he is still a good friend and now leads a tech company; he was able to jump over his high bar.
Like Joe, many of us never bring our intrinsic value to the table. We fail to present what makes us great, unique, and valuable to society. I view life as a series of building blocks. Now, as I prepare to serve time, I look forward to adding to my collective of experiences, “stacking blocks to jump the highest bar,” and strengthening my intrinsic value, so I can bring more to the table than I ever did upon release.
“Failure doesn’t have anything to do with your intrinsic value as a person.”
-Albert Ellis
M.E. Lluberes
