How to become the Most Valuable person

Welcome to the Yo Allias podcast with Femi Akemi. The podcast where we explore how to elite your potential in the workplace, your hospital, and life in general with practical life steps complemented with stories. Sometimes I use stories from my past, and trust me, I have got some stories for you. Sometimes I'll just share stuff I've learned, and other times we get people who know a lot more than we do into the studio to break it all up. You know what I mean? Whatever it is, anything at all that is you're trying to achieve, just start and you'll get better as you do more, and before you know it, you'll become a high performer. Please don't forget to like the podcast, share with your friends, and leave some feedback on the page. With that said, let's jump right into it. In sports, especially American sports, there's a term called MVP, which simply means the most valuable player. It's usually used in team sports and it's usually reserved for the most important player on a team. A player who is so crucial to team success. A player without whom the team success is not even accorded. A player without whom the team would just not be the same. A player without whom the team success won't happen. But that's what it should all we should be. That's what we should all be. That's what you could be, and that's what we're meant to be. In this week's podcast, I'll be sharing one of the big tips on how to become the MVP of your team. How to become the most valuable player on the team you work for, or at least one of the MVPs. How you become so important, how so integral to your team, your industry, your market, your organization, your family, your church, your local community, your friends, and any other team you work with, I'll be sharing that tip with you. More than likely, you're part of a team or building a team at the moment. And a high-performing team is a finely tuned machine, and every part has a purpose that has to work together to achieve its purpose and function. So every machine you see, there's a cog, there's a wheel, and everything in there works together to produce this harmony of effectiveness for the machine to do what it was created to do. So before we get into that and this whole talk about MVP, we should probably talk a bit about what a successful team looks like. And I'll just share some eight things. Number one, they communicate well with each other. A high performing team communicates well with each other. Number two, they're focused on goals and results. Number three, everyone contributes their fair share. Number four, they offer each other support. Number five, team members are diverse. You've got team members from different parts of the world or different backgrounds. Number six, they have good leadership. Seven, they're organized and they have fun. So as a team member, you should be looking to have a degree of capability, of ability in any of or all of those areas. And I'll break it down a bit more. Number one, communicate with clarity as a member of the team. When you communicate, your how, why, what, where, when, such that people understand what it is you're saying and what you're expecting of them and what's expected of you. Number two, have clear goals and results within the team you're looking to achieve. There's no point being part of a team and not having a clear idea of your goals and objectives. Remember, anything that isn't measured is not monitored. So you should have your goals. I'm part of this team, and I bring this to the team. You've got to know what it is. Number three, contribute your fair share. Make sure you add value and you're not a passenger. In projects, in conversations, in activities, make sure you're not just a passenger who just in meetings doesn't say anything or doesn't add value. If you're in a meeting and most of the time you can't say anything, there's a possibility that it's because you don't know enough or you haven't researched enough. Support your teammates. If you see one of them is down, pull them up. If you see one of your teammates is struggling, what's wrong with you just getting in there, chipping in and helping them? In your own way, provide a little leadership. Remember, not all of us are leaders by position, but leadership is never about position. I've learned it's about influence and how you use it to get what you need and what you want to get done. Are you organized? You have to be organized. A team is a reflection of its members, and if you're not organized, then you are part of the problem. And finally, be a good friend. Make sure you help the team. If you can do any or all of these things at a decent level, then you're well on your way to becoming the MVP. But there's one thing on this list, it hints at it, but it doesn't call it out completely that if you do it, you are sure to be the MVP. And before I do it, I probably should go into it. I'd love to share a story with you. So once upon a time, after I'd been out of work for a while, I finally got a job. And when I got the job and I was about to sign the contract, I asked the new manager, What can I do to make a difference so I can keep my job? But you see, I asked this question because I was so desperate to make a difference, so desperate to keep my job. But also critically, I was desperate not to be told I'm not needed anymore. I wanted to keep my job so I can keep paying my bills. And that's the feeling you need to have. You need to have that feeling of desperation, of wanting to be better. The manager took one look at me and said, Find one thing you're good at, just one thing within within the team. Find that one thing you're good at, then get so good at it that you become the undeniably the best at it. Become the go-to person for that for that thing in this team, the most knowledgeable and the most capable. And I must say, it made a big difference to me because I went ahead and I did it. I found a role as a top person when it came to virtual technology within my team, and I ended up becoming well-liked, respected, and ultimately I stayed in the job for close to five years, and that came from being the best at something, and that is the tip to becoming the MVP. Become the best at something. So, what does this mean for you? It means at the end of this podcast, I'm hoping you have a clear idea of what you want to be the best at within your team or within your organization, and here's how to do it. Number one, find out what the objective of your team is. Ultimately, what is your team responsible for? What are they responsible for? What is that one thing if your team doesn't do, they would have failed? Okay, what is the one thing if your team doesn't do, they'll be classed as irrelevant. An example of this is if your team is in product management, then it has to keep costs under control, it has to deliver products on time, and it has to produce products with quality. So, within those three areas, I guess, pick on one and then become the best at it. So, for example, as a PM, you may become known for managing your costs. So they would say Femi is the guy who always keeps his costs down on projects, whatever happens. That becomes something you're known for, and people trust you and come to you for it, and they come to you for advice, for guidance. But it could also mean being known as the person who builds relationships and sustains them, the person focused on continuous improvement, the person who always does things the right way. It could also just be the person that knows the most about a product or service, which means you have clear ideas about how to get it better. It can be anything, but please choose something and be visible, be visible to people so they know you know what you're doing and you're the best at it. But the key is to look for one thing, becoming a master at this one thing means that they'll look for you when they when something needs to be done. But ultimately, it's about relevance. If you don't strive to be relevant, you will become irrelevant, and that is probably the headline of this message. Strive to become relevant by becoming the best at something. Because if you don't and you're not good at anything, you'll become irrelevant, you will add no value, you will become a bit part player in the team, you become a bit part player in your market, a bit part player in your industry, and a bit part player in meetings and conversations. From a bit part player, you become a no-part player. Success is important, but we have to enjoy the journey. Your ability to thrive is linked to your ability to survive, and this is in turn linked to your ability to stay irrelevant. If you stay relevant, you thrive. But you don't become good at anything, you become irrelevant. You become irrelevant, the game leaves you behind, and you become it has been. I hope you've enjoyed this episode of You Unleashed where we share ideas of how to rocket in the workplace and life in general. Don't forget to share and like our podcast with your friends and let us know what you think. We're not where we want to be, but we're definitely better than we used to be. Dawn is better than perfect, and this episode is in the books. Get unleashed and stay unleashed. Have a great week.