Photo by Mykl Roventine
This week I’ll be speaking at Bulldog Reporter’s PR Agency Management 2010 Summit. One of the most important lessons that I’ve learned as an employee and a manager, is that the best way to make yourself indispensable and advance your career (and your company) is to constantly grow and expand your skill set and contribution to your organization. There is nothing worse than stagnation as a person, professional or company.
Strong employees and managers understand and embrace this concept and are constantly seeking to mentor or train a prospect to replace them- so that they can focus on higher objectives or more strategic goals. If someone can do your job, you can do someone else’s- like your supervisor’s job. I would like nothing more than for an employee to take more work off of my plate so that I can move on to my long wish list of “to dos” that I can’t give proper attention.
Individuals sometimes mistakenly hoard knowledge and information thinking that it puts them in a position of power. They think that if they are the only person in an organization that can perform a function, that they will become indispensable. However, the opposite is often true. It often makes management nervous if the company becomes too reliant on one person, or if they see that the individual hasn’t enhanced their contribution to the workplace or can’t take on new responsibilities over time. If you are holding onto a single job function for dear life, you may be choking the life out of your career.
To make yourself truly invaluable at work, no matter where you are on the career ladder, think about following this advice:
- Learn how to do your job better - even if no one is asking you to, this can enable you to take on more responsibility and grow your practice area
- Train someone to do your job - so you can move on to higher goals and strategic objectives
- Learn how to do someone else’s job - such as your supervisor – so that you can provide more value to your boss
- Learn how to do a new job - so you can help the company expand its market share, grow its product offering or become more efficient
Feel free to share your own advice in the comments.
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