Professor Coleman
If you’re reading this, your presence adds value, even if you haven’t fully realized it yet.
One thing I remind my students often is the importance of being a value-added person in every space they enter. That doesn’t just mean completing what’s assigned. It means noticing what’s missing and using your skills and perspective to make the moment or the environment better. But you can’t offer that kind of contribution without first understanding what you bring to the table.
That’s why I start each semester with an assignment called Situate Yourself. You’ll be asked to reflect, write, and speak about your life. Where you’re from. What your family dynamic looks like. What you believe, what you’ve questioned, what you’ve seen, and what you’ve learned. This isn’t a checklist. It’s an invitation to name your lived experience and claim it out loud. It’s also a moment to listen with care while others do the same.
If you can be honest about who you are, you’re more likely to treat others with empathy. If you can express what you’ve carried through the years, you’ll start to see what others might miss. That’s how we grow as communicators. That’s how we become better teammates, better colleagues, and better leaders.
You should also know this: even on days when you doubt yourself, you still bring value. You matter in rooms where you feel unseen. You offer something, even if you haven’t put a name to it yet. You don’t have to compete for significance. You don’t need all the answers to start asking the right questions.
Be the kind of person who adds value by showing up prepared, staying curious, listening with intention, and doing your part. That kind of presence makes a lasting difference.
My hope is that you start to notice what you contribute. That you give yourself credit for the effort, not just the outcome. And that you remind someone else they matter too, because we all forget sometimes.
If you’re reading this, don’t wait to be perfect before you believe you’re worth something. Keep showing up. Keep listening. Keep being a value-added person.
Even if you don’t see it yet, someone else does. And that includes me.
Professor Coleman, Syracuse University
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