#23

From an employee to asset: how to increase your market value

Reader,

Today we are going to talk about a major reframing that you need to make when you are thinking about your career. Most men think about their careers through the jobs they have, smart men see themselves as a product, and elite men understand they are the asset. There is a difference, and it is important you are able to understand this.

Employees trade time for money, an asset creates value that other people compete to access.

If you want more income, leverage & freedom, you have start by firstly increasing your market value. Let’s talk about how you can do this.

Stop Thinking Like an Employee

Employees say things like: “What is my job description, does this fit in it?” , “Is this task above my pay grade?” , “I’ve done my bit.” I was always told you get promoted into the position you want by doing the role before you have it. The best employees grow into roles that they create for themselves so that there’s no question about your ability.

Assets, think about things like this: “Where does this company make money?”, “What are the expensive problems that need solving” , “Where can I create leverage?”

The market doesn’t reward people who put in all the effort. It rewards value. That goes for your job too. You can work 60 hours a week and can still be replaced by an someone else or AI. Or, you can become the type of man who:

• Solves high-stakes problems
• Owns critical relationships
• Drives revenue or reduces risk

That’s when you move from a labourer to a person who has true leverage.

Increase the Scarcity of Your Skillset

To increase your value you need to pull these three levers:

1. Skill depth – Are you genuinely excellent at what you do? Or do you just get by by knowing the basics without really understand the ins and outs of your craft?

2. Skill combination – Do you have a rare mix? Or can your skillset be easily found among other people in the industry?

3. Market demand – Is the world hungry for what you do? or are you holding on to skills that are no longer of value in the world?

Average skills in saturated areas = average pay. In this era of Agentic AI and companies cutting the workforce you have to think about this. I caught up with a friend last week and his wife and he told me the investment bank he works for have over 100 AI agents who have REAL JOBS. They have their own email addresses, managers and employee ID. You interact with them over email. HR business partners, compliance officers. All done over AI.

Your value at work, in life has never been so important.

Rare combinations in growing markets = pricing power.

Let us look at an example:

• A generic salesman? Common.
• A salesman who understands the product they are selling, how to use AI, and commercial strategy? Scarcer.
• A sales leader who can build product and align execs and drive revenue? Valuable.

Scarcity helps you to create leverage. If ten people can do what you do, you compete on price.

However, if only three people can do what you do, you compete on value.

Build Visible Proof

Your market value comes from what you can prove and justify. Right now there are AI agents who are proving to be more cost effective for like for like roles. So you have to be able to justify reasons why you should get paid more when you have an agent who never calls in sick, arguably is capable of significantly more output and will never quity.

Your proof looks like:

• The revenue you have generated
• The costs you helped reduce
• The teams you have helped build
• The products you have shipped
• The customer growth you have enabled
• The risks you have helped to mitigate

This is where most tend to fall short. Doing the good work but not documenting the outcomes.

Your career is your portfolio, if you had to sell your skills tomorrow, could you show numbers? Outcomes? show how you have transformed an environment? get someone to vouch for you?

Results help you move from “potential” to “asset.”

Develop Leverage (Not Just Skill)

If all your income depends on your personal effort, you will remain fragile. High value men learn how to build leverage through systems, people, capital, distribution and brand. When you are able to lead teams, build processes that scale, create assets outside your salary and develop authority in your space, you increase optionality. And optionality is power.

Think Beyond Your Employer

Don’t fall into the trap of building your career around your place of work and your employer. Those trapped in the employee mindset ask the question: “Will they promote me?” On the other hand’ assets ask: “Who else would pay for this?”

When:

• Recruiters call you
• Clients seek you out
• Opportunities find you

These are signs of market validation. You don’t want to feel trapped, you want to feel chosen.

The Internal Shift

This is the part no one talks about. If you secretly see yourself as:

• “Lucky to be here”
• “Not quite ready”
• “Not senior enough”

You’ll cap your own value, your income tends to rise in line with the level of your own self-perception. Firstly you have to increase your standards, speak like a leader, think long term and take ownership. Stop waiting for permission to act. The market pays men who take responsibility.

The Man Daily Way

Here is your checklist to takeaway:

1. Learn high-income skills.
2. Combine them in rare ways.
3. Track measurable results.
4. Increase visibility.
5. Build leverage beyond your salary.
6. Protect your health so you can perform at a high level.
7. Raise your standards every year.

Because this isn’t just about money, it is also about power.

Power to:

• Provide
• Choose your projects
• Walk away when needed
• Build a life you’re proud of

You’re not here to stay an employee forever. You’re here to become an asset, and assets appreciate over time.

—

If this resonated, forward it to a man who needs to level up this year.

We are here to help you and your community build value.