How to become indispensable at work

And why it takes time to prove yourself again and again and again …

This article isn’t about some very successful employee or some exceptionally successful entrepreneur who had incredible abilities to become indispensable at work. This article is about each one of us who keeps looking for the significance of our existence and keeps finding our purpose in the work we do.

Let me remind you again; my articles aren’t about people at the cubicle. A kitchen is as essential a workspace as the dock of a pilot. Every work that we do is an expression of ours. We choose to do something because we express who we are through our work. Hence it’s natural to find the significance of self in all we do. We want to do important things, and we want to become important all the time.

None of us wants to be treated as a cog in the wheel. We all want to become indispensable, whether for family, employer, team, society and nation.

Why do we feel less significant in what we do?

We feel less significant because we think what we are doing is of no significance to others.

The attitude of people who choose teaching as their career in Indian villages is quite dismal. They decide to teach because they couldn't get any other job. They get satisfied with the fact that they will earn, but they don’t do justice to their job and themselves.

Similarly, when Joe, my friend in the US, got fired because of resource correction during COVID times, he took a job to survive.

Deciding to do a job to survive is fine. But once survival is taken care of, we realize there is something more we want to do more with our lives. The incompleteness of “not being able to something more” put us in 3 traps, which becomes difficult to escape:

Low self-esteem: Self -esteem is what we think, feel, and believe about our accomplishments; it’s about what we do. Once we find ourselves doing something we don’t want to do, mediocrity steps in. We can’t focus on what we are doing. This attitude of “half-hearted approach” is quite evident to everyone and reflects in the outcomes. Then our efforts don’t match the standards we have set in for ourselves. Consequently, we don’t get the importance we expect. We become a second choice and a replaceable resource. And that’s how we become less significant.

Comparing ourselves: Why did Smita get the promotion which Vikas was expecting? Why all the rewards and recognition go to Smita when Vikas is more skilled than Smita?

We all get into this kind of situation when we compare our efforts with others. We get disappointed when we don’t get the rewards we expect. We don’t realize a simple fact:

We might be more skilled and effective in our current profiles, still we don’t get the recognition, simply becuase company invest in people with a long term perspective. They don’t like to put their money on employees who will not be useful in the long run.

Unfulfilled career aspirations: There is no shortage of people, especially in the corporate world, doing something they had never imagined doing. They work because of the benefits, glamor, and sometimes necessity. But their present jobs has never been their choice.

Some people manage to change this, and some get stuck with their present jobs they don’t want to do. This unfulfilled career aspiration inherently makes us feel less satisfied and insignificant and affects our personal and professional lives.

We all know we are not indispensable and can be easily replaced much earlier than someone else tell us. It’s just a matter of listening to our inner voice and doing something about it.

What does it mean to be indispensable?

Can you imagine The Pirates of Carrebian without Jack Sparrow? Can you imagine The Avengers without Iron Man? These movies wouldn't have existed without these bigger than life characters, but they have their places, and they are undeniably one of the key ingredients of the story.

Being indispensable is all about offering something to which either no one else can offer or is extremely difficult to replace. You don’t need a great deal of talent for this. It would help if you had curiosity, willingness to be your best, and a perspective to find unique solutions to problems.

People expect others to come and handover such opportunities to them. The fact is such opportunities never exist. You create them. As Henry Ford had said after making the famous Model T Cars — Had I asked customers to name a faster mode of transport, they would have said they need faster horses. No one gave the opportunity of creating an iPhone to Steve Jobs.

How to become indispensable?

No one can help you to become indispensable. There can only be your brand ambassadors. Becoming indispensable is more to do with who you are and how you craft yourself. There are three aspects of becoming indispensable — Reliability, Relationships and Eminence

You become Reliable

More than anything else, people look for reliability first in whoever they work with or meet in their day-to-day lives. Everyone is insecure in some or other ways. Everyone hates uncertainties. But a reliable person is someone who understands this fundamental nature of human beings. Usually, a reliable person is:

Proactive — He is good at taking the initiative. He weighs the risk, understands the stakes, and is not scared of being the first to act in any given situation.

Keeps his Commitment: He is a man of his words. He can go to any extreme to keep his words, take tough decisions, and don’t shy away from accepting his mistakes when required.

Skillful: He is good at learning things. He is a life long student. He believes that there is something to learn from everyone and in every situation.

Set the expectations right: He has the guts to say NO. He understands his abilities and clearly tells people what he can do and what he can’t do. He understands his priorities and people trust his NO.

Takes Responsibility for everything: Responsibility is our ability to respond in a given situation. Responsibility doesn’t mean we have to act always. A reliable person is someone who knows that his ability to respond is limitless. Conditions determine his actions, and he performs them to the best of his capabilities.

You understand it takes time and effort to establish a Relationship.

People think of relationships as making friends, discussing politics, building rapport, sharing a drink, etc. While these things might be necessary to get familiar with someone in your workplace, but that’s not a real relationship.

A real relationship is always about work. It’s about what value you add to the work and the person. We can do only our bit of work and try to enhance/finetune our capability. Whether the result of our efforts is valuable or not is determined by the people around us. We might be doing our best work possible, but it will still not be good enough for someone. You don’t need to get disheartened when someone doesn’t appreciate your efforts. It just means the venture doesn’t require your time and energy and you need to move on in life.

A real relationship is also about what happens after work. Once the work is done, we usually move on with our lives and forget people we have worked with. To keep the relationship on, do these 3 things:

1. Express gratitude that you got an opportunity of working together, you had a good learning experience, you gained lots of insights into the domain . There could have many reasons for expressing your gratitude.
2. Look what went right and what went wrong: It’s a good practice to understand what can be improved and avoided once the task is over.
3. Look for the next opportunity to collaborate: Always let the other person know that you are keen to work with them again. People usually hesitate to ask for an opportunity.

You earn your Eminence.

Your eminence depends on the following factors:

1. Skills you have built.
2. Expertise you showcase
3. Respect you have earned
4. The knowledge that’s exclusive to you

To build your eminence:

1. Stay abreast of developments in your areas of expertise.
2. Look for opportunities where your skills and knowledge can be used.
3. Articulate your viewpoints confidently.
4. Back your arguments with rationale.
5. Remain open to ideas and suggestions and learn from others
6. Use social media wisely. Don’t just browse through that timeline. Add value to every connection.

In the end…

We earn our indispensability. And we need to keep working on it constantly irrespective of whether we work in the kitchen or in a cublicle.