Become indispensable

November 7, 6:53 AMPhiladelphia Leadership ExaminerSelena Rezvani

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Philadelphia Leadership Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Be seen as indispensable
Selena Rezvani

In this day of outsourced jobs and automation, it is important to find ways to become indispensable to your organization, your division—and your boss. An indispensable employee has an expertise that is critical to their organization, and often not easy to come by. Being indispensable creates a reliance on you as an employee that can translate to having more

choice in work assignments, better job opportunities, and added bargaining chips when it comes to salary negotiation. Consider what you do (or could do) that is absolutely critical to your organization. Remember that critical skills can be as concrete as being an expert at a hard-to-use technological tool, or as intangible as getting two divisions to work more collaboratively

together. Below are some questions to ask yourself in leveraging your strengths and contributions to your organization:

• What is unique or special about what I bring to my organization?

• What technical capabilities do I perform best?

• When do coworkers compliment me? What skills am I using when I receive compliments?

• What do I do that no one can do better?

• In which areas do I receive my best feedback in performance reviews?

• In what areas do I take on more than I am expected to accomplish?

• Do others depend on me for certain knowledge or skills? To what extent?

• What about my contributions are hard to replace?

• What kinds of skills does my organization need more of now? In the future?

• Do I train or mentor others to do work that is indispensable?

• How do I connect my individual work to my department’s goals, and to my organization’s objectives?

• In which areas do people say I am “a natural”?

• What are my most important interpersonal qualities?

Remember that your ability to develop unique expertise will make you more valuable to your organization, better protected from a job security perspective, and more attractive to other employers. Locate what is unique about your contributions, and build on your uniqueness. Take initiative by spearheading an organizational improvement effort, or going the extra mile to find a new angle to solve a problem. If you believe there is an overlooked or important opportunity for your division or company, take the reins by writing a business case in support of a change or compiling confirmatory research. By harnessing relationships, building cooperation, and filling organizational gaps, you will gain tremendous learning. You will also benefit professionally in short- and long-term ways.

This article is excerpted from “The Next Generation of Women Leaders: What You Need to Lead but Won’t Learn in Business School” by Selena Rezvani (Praeger publishing, due out December 2009).