Value and Worth – Two Things that Gig Workers Know a Lot About
Some of us have full time jobs. Some of us have part time jobs. Many of us have both! Whatever the case may be, we can all agree that our time is valuable. This is because our expertise has value. Deep down we know what we are worth and are on a mission to insist that others acknowledge it.
Value is defined as “the importance, worth, or usefulness of something”. Value quickly becomes very personal because we must immediately place a value onto something we already believe we deserve – we deserve to be acknowledged for the knowledge and experience we have. Worth can be defined as “the level at which someone or something deserves to be valued or rated.” Determining what something is worth requires us to determine its value to us and to others. Worth and value are interconnected and serve to demonstrate who we are and what is important to us. One way of looking at it is that value is concrete, worth is relative.
What this means is that this connection between value and worth is based on relationships. It requires us to engage with others so that we can determine how valuable and worthy something is, or rather how valuable and worthy we are to them.
This is exemplified, for example, in how much we charge for public speaking, i.e. the honorarium we agree on with a client. We believe in ourselves and work hard to make that belief something that others share as well. That is our work in making something worthy to others. As a public speaker myself, my expertise has value given the time and effort I put into informing myself and preparing for a talk. It is also confirmed by what people will pay to hear me speak.
In turn, the worth of what I say is determined by the person listening. Whether I’m speaking on foods of the Caribbean, or discussing the differences between rudeness, meanness and bullying (both topics I have presented on), it is up to me to give a valuable and informative presentation. In turn, it is up to the listener to determine whether what they heard was worthy of their time and money. This determination will be different for everyone.
The Colégas Group was something that I saw value in early on. It took work & time to demonstrate its worth to others. Listening to their input helped me see what their definition of value was and provided a guide to continue the conversation and ultimately convince them. This experience gave me a sense of how to position the company as something that would improve lives and be worthy of the public’s support.
Ultimately, worth is rooted in the relationships we develop along the way. It allows us to connect and see the world a little bit the same. As we work on finding our value and making it worthy of the time & money that others will give for it, we realize that connections is the basis for this process.