“Where we are today and What we want at the end of the changed process requires a road map. As the Gap Analysis video from our course material describes, one must have a “visionary desired outcome”. //Current State versus Desired Outcome. #60303wk7
My current state is: I am a 24 year old young female//already having obtained a Bachelors of Arts and Sciences degree in Public Relations // currently enrolled in graduate school pursuing a Masters degree in Knowledge Management// working full-time as a court Secretary with an interest in being a successful publicist.
Desired Outcome: To be a well-known & successful publicist with a plethora of network contacts and high-profile clientele.
Understanding that networking and finding hands-on experiences also contribute to credibility; To improve my credibility as an individual– I must do the following:
//PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND FURTHER EDUCATE MYSELF. By educating myself on my desired interest of study and/or career choice I will be able to develop insights based on research and analysis thus contributing to my credibility and my ability to do a task and/or play an important role in an organization. Insight will strengthen as my network increases. As Jim Whitehurst explained in his “How to Earn Respect as a Leader” article, one who demonstrates confidence will allow you to earn respect as a leader. By contributing to value through self-educating through the reading of books, enrolling in higher education and CPE –increases your confidence thus allowing you to provide meaningful insight in a work environment.
//KNOWING THE LEGITIMATE VALUE OF WHAT I PROVIDE. While I am a freelance writer with a resume revamp business, I find that I struggle with determining prices based on the value of service. For example, each individualized resume requires more time than others//Therefore, prices may vary depending on how much time each one takes. Further, communicating both strengths and limitations of such service that I provide have been a struggle in the past. I now know that the knowledge I have about resume building and career building is my competitive advantage. I am unique in that there is a market for freelance writers to which consumers who aren’t fond of writing find necessary. While this is only my resume business example, this applies to other aspects of my life.
Kay's KM Blog 
The part about being well-known struck a chord. I really struggle with this as well in my work. Would it be because it promotes a good client base, or because we (quite reasonably) want good societal recognition for our hard work?
Only you can work through your own motivations, but we should probably continually audit these. I would advise reaching out to a variety of mentors who’ve done what you’re after. What are they like? This great question in all of Western and beyond culture of what makes art and people authentic, but all the while we self-promote to make ends meet and conform with dominant capitalist paradigms…not easy.
Also, the knowing your worth piece was great. It is true that your age and experience may “limit” you now in a certain sense, but not really. It all depends on who you’re working with and why. If you were to sell high level expertise commodified elsewhere, that probably won’t work. If, however, you were to sell the trust and confidence you could bring to people who already know you a bit (like through a good LinkedIn audit), that might be something. Everyone is searching for people they trust to help them, and generally speaking, will prefer working with people they already have some type of connection with versus starting cold. This relationship concept usually trumps sheer expertise (for all but maybe large corporations…).
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