Leaders,
Indispensable or irreplaceable? It might seem like an inconsequential difference. Yet, knowing the difference can greatly affect the course of your career.
Often, we get busy, operating in survival mode from day to day, and don’t realize that we may be painting ourselves into a corner by becoming “irreplaceable” in our current role – no one knows it as well as we do or could work the magic the way we do. This is a dangerous type of successful called Irreplaceable.
Reality is, if we aren’t actively building a bridge into the next stretch opportunity for ourselves, we may be casting a constrictive brand that could cause us to end up stuck right where we are. The job you love today may feel like a sleep walker existence some day in the near future.
The challenge we face today is getting busy with all the doing and forgetting that we need to be actively instilling our skills, thinking, and instincts into our people, so that they can step up into the next level, and so can we.
Today’s articles remind us of the difference between painting ourselves into a corner by becoming irreplaceable, vs. painting ourselves out of the room and into the next by becoming indispensable in a broader sense. While readying the next person who will be prepared by us to step into the spot we leave behind.
We find these 3 tips most effective for building your bridge to the next now by building your people for the next now:
- Information, Information, Information: Send your people continuous information on what’s going on in the organization. Look at FYI information as opportunities to increase their knowledge base, their organizational awareness, and their ability to think into higher levels where you need them to be operating. The more information you can share with them the better you’re helping them be ready and accustomed to that next higher level of accountability.
- Teach how you think, not just what to do to compete the task: The best way to accelerate the development of your people is to teach them how to think at a higher level – where you operate. Your brain is their best asset, not in terms of how to complete a task, but in the sense of how you perceive and approach things strategically. This will expand and elevate their way of thinking not just help them get the job done. At every chance teach thinking.
- Challenge them, don’t be a crutch: It is very tempting to be the problem solver and the vending machine of answers. This is a temptation and a false reality of what it means to be a leader that we must actively ward against. In order to not create an environment of learned helplessness or abdicated accountability, it’s essential we challenge our people to think through their own issues and give them enough encouragement and advice to solve their problems on their own. Avoid being the fixer, and instead challenge them to higher levels of ability so they can keep pushing into their potential. Causing your people to grow continually is far more important long term than giving them a quick answer or solution.
They are your bridge to the next and you are theirs.
Even though today you may be challenged and enjoying your current role, it’s always important to be thinking about building your bridge into the next opportunity to express your talents in new ways and to make a broader impact on the world.
As you focus on becoming more indispensable through cultivating some of these qualities mentioned in the articles, be sure you’re taking steps to paint yourself out of today’s room eventually and into the next opportunity for you to tap your greater potential. And to help others follow suit.
Coach Faith
Indispensable vs. Irreplaceable
“If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted. You can’t grow your company or your profile, because it can’t move forward without you. You can’t grow, move on, do different things, expand your horizons. Being irreplaceable is actually a pretty crappy place to be in your career.”
https://ambernaslund.com/indispensable-vs-irreplaceable/
11 Traits of Extremely Valuable Employees
People can only grow as far as the information and the support around them will allow. A limited education and network will produce limited results. Extremely valuable employees are able to tap into resources quickly and easily to solve any problem or create nearly any opportunity.
https://www.inc.com/kevin-daum/11-traits-of-extremely-valuable-employees.html
