My journey, my value, and how the pandemic showed me who I really am.
By: Omar Jabara
Tags: Unemployment, Thepowermba, Job Hunting, Personal Development, Covid 19

In this article, my intention is to stir the creativity in anyone who reads it and to promote the school of thought learned at ThePowerMBA. ThePowerMBA has been the tool and catalyst which has allowed me to uncover new ideas and concepts in navigating this “new world”, I hope it serves you well!

Over twenty years ago, I began my professional sales career within a family business. Anyone who has worked for your family knows, it’s no easy feat, nor is it something that is learned….anywhere.

Without boring my readers with the ups and downs when working within a family business, fast-forward to 6 years ago when the family collectively agreed to sell the business and holdings and each of us moves on to our own aspirations. The freedom quickly became fear, although I considered myself well polished in the corporate world, I was on my own now and the self-doubt began to settle in. I began to contract my services for developments, new commercial builds, and renovations but the monotonous feeling of doing the same thing lingered.

What I opted to do was get into a field, industry, and sector I had no knowledge about. Although I have entered many new industries before, they were all loosely tied to the construction world. A friend introduced me to a business he was involved in, mobile data, telecom sales, and mobile encryption. The next few years were filled with more lessons, failures, and incredible successes. I felt, surely this was my new gig, I’m on my own, I’m my own boss and I’m building my little empire from scratch.

With entrepreneurship, you learn very quickly what it takes to at the very least survive. I did and did it very well. But it didn’t feel right…..something again felt off. I was flying high, making great money, traveling, buying all the toys you’d ever want but there was an emptiness. The aforementioned loneliness that many entrepreneurs feel, stuck, and became a weighted burden that I couldn’t shake. I sold, walked away, and took some time to myself to figure out what my next move is.

I became stagnant, my creative mind was dry and discouraged. My immediate thought was to get back into the workforce, I applied to companies for the first time ever, had my first interviews with already 15+ years of experience, and I landed a job as a Director of Business Development. I loved the staff, loved the company dynamics but the owner’s belief in honoring a contract and my need to be remunerated for my efforts lived in different hemispheres. I resigned and moved on, still lost on what I’m to do and where I’m to go.

A few more jobs later, more mistakes in reading the right team to work with, and a heavier discerning feeling of loss weighed me further down into a slump I’ve never felt before. I began to believe my skillset may not have been as polished as I once thought it was.

A further fast-forward to March of 2020, the pandemic, a layoff, and like many, complete and utter confusion.

Along came time for me to reset my creative mindset and the search began. As mentioned in my other articles, ThePowerMBA appeared in my Google search and the rest is history…..well almost history.

On to why you may have clicked forward to read this article, how did the pandemic and ThePowerMBA helped me find myself?

The business model canvas helped me land a job with a great company, and a great team, but what else has changed me? My value! A value proposition has been used in startups, by product managers and marketers for decades but never used for the real assets within a company — the people. In my first month at my new job, I began to dive deep into what MY value proposition is? What differentiates me from the rest in the industry? What skill sets do I have but tend not to show? What has the last 20 years taught me that could give me the edge….and the list went on and on. Hundreds of questions, hundreds of hours pondering, and then it hit. I developed a value proposition of myself, I’m the product, I’m the marketed and marketable unit that also has a lifetime value and a cost of acquisition.

Value Proposition available at strategyzer.com

This may sound weird, it may sound crazy, but believe me, it works.

ThePowerMBA has shown me so many tools to relate to myself that it has reinvigorated me with a youthful, ambitious, and creative mind….once again.

Next, let's work this together, use this exercise on yourself, and pay attention to the results.

First, we’re going to work on the Value Proposition side of the graphic. You are the product and the services you provide are to your company. What is your product? Are you a sales unit? A marketing unit? Logistics? Management? Write it down. What service do you provide? That service may not be what you were hired to do. Concisely, write in one brief sentence what the service is that you provide. (Example, I’m a sales unit or revenue-generating unit, my service is to be an additional monetized pathway for the company to grow). What are your gain creators? You, not your service. What skills do you have or what are you almost superhuman at doing? Your gain creator is your superpower, whether you know it or not. What makes you special in your field? Write them down. Pain relievers…..not Aspirin or Advil! What do you do differently that causes less pain or no pain for your company's processes, their customers, and bottom line?

The first part may have allowed you to realize you are NOT AN EMPLOYEE. In fact, you are a smaller business unit within a larger business. Your cost of acquisition was the cost to bring you onboard, train you and get you started, your lifetime value is what return you will bring….think of it as an investment.

The second part gets really interesting. This is where you pick the customer segment(s) your unit works most with.

Customer jobs are what your customer needs from you AND what your company needs from you. Gains are what your customers want or already receive that make their life easier (known as delighters). Pains are what may be occurring in your industry. What are the most common complaints you know of that the industry ignores or doesn’t try and resolve?

This exercise showed me that my value proposition is as a sales unit within the design industry. My services are as follows: I’m a sales and relationship generating unit with a focus on growth and development. My gain creator is my experience within the industries that work within a concept to creation model (realistic or virtual) and my understanding that the client or company may not know all of the issues that may arise during the entire process. My pain reliever is the experience I bring and an inherent gift to see the ship sink before it’s left the dock.

Looking at the customer segment side, I immediately know that my company and customers need my attention, know-how, and my relentless pursuit to win. The gains I’ve found is working with my customers on a consultative level, with their best intention at the forefront. The pains my industry feel is the typical feelings towards the “salesy” type structure, lowest price, get it fast, smooth and fast-talking salespeople.

ThePowerMBA has done for me what no collegiate school could ever do. It operated as my educator, my therapist, my friend by NOT operating as a typical collegiate school. I have learned from my colleagues, teachers, the staff at ThePowerMBA Worldwide, and through the documentation of my journey, I’ve learned most importantly from myself.

I see through a different lens now, I’m an intrapreneur that quickly became recognized by my peers, I am humbled in knowing that I will continue to improve on my former self and the once polished notion I had of myself has been scrapped, remolded, and rebuilt into the ever-evolving being I am today.

Connect with me on LinkedIn!

Thank you for reading!