For years I refused to admit that there was any value in being a native speaker of English.

After all, I grew up in the US, where speaking English is taken for granted.

Ah, so you are fluent in English, huh? Congratulations on that, now get in line with the other 350 million Americans who speak English fluently.

However, here in Turkey, I am surrounded every day by people who have worked unimaginably hard to get where they are, and to do whatever they are doing in English, too. A brilliant Turkish person who is also fluent in English not only has to work hard to be brilliant, he/she also has to work hard to do it in English. They are having to work twice as hard as me.

To ignore the value in something I take for granted is to ignore for myself what I ask my clients to do all the time: Claim all the value you can get. Do not ignore any of it.

One of the 84 points in the TMG Strategists program is VC09, and its Trust Node is: “Leadership keeps the organization singularly focused on customer value.” In other words, “Is the culture aligned to deliver distinct value that changes the behavior of the ideal customer?”

At first I focused on the end of that statement, changing the behavior of the ideal customer. But then I realized that before I can do that, I need to come to terms with the value I am providing, and if part of that value is something I take for granted and refuse to admit has value, I won’t be able to change anyone’s behavior, because I am not changing mine.