Do you want to be seen as “essential” by your manager, leader or executive? I will assume for a moment that your answer is “yes.” So let’s talk about what that will require.
First, let’s start with the “table stakes” part of being essential: you have to do your job well, treat your clients or customers well, treat your colleagues well, etc, etc, etc. You get the idea. There are certain things that go without saying. You can’t be bad at your job, be hard to work with, or treat people badly and be seen as essential.
So let’s dig deeper. And let’s think about the world we are living in today. As we say all the time here at The Latimer Group, it is a “noisy world” out there. The vast majority of us feel some sense of overwhelm because of all the meetings, emails, texts, chats, news alerts, and demands coming at us all day every day. And your leader almost certainly feels that way also… probably even more than you do.
So, over and above the table stakes of just being good at your job, your path towards being essential also includes things like this:
- Do you manage information flow to your leader in an effective way, or does someone always have to request information from you?
- Do you meet your deadlines, or does someone have to always follow up with you?
- Do you make things simpler for your leader, or more complicated?
- Do you understand what your leader’s goals are? And are you actively helping them get there?
- Do you make your leader’s life easier or harder?
The answers to these kinds of questions will lead to your “essential status,” over and above the table stakes issues.
We preach “knowing and understanding your audience” in everything we do here at The Latimer Group. So, if you want to be seen as essential to your leader, put yourself in their shoes for a moment, and then take a long look in the mirror.
Do you make their work life easier or harder?
Have a great day.
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Does your team:
– Overwhelm the audience with too much detail?
– Make things too complicated?
– Fail to ask for what they want or need?
Does your organization:
– Waste time because of poor internal communication?
– Take too long to make decisions?
– Struggle to clarify and frame discussions?
Do your leaders:
– Exhibit poor executive presence?
– Lean on incomplete communication skills?
– Fail to align the organization?
We transform teams and individuals with repeatable toolsets for persuasive communication. Explore training, coaching, and consulting services from The Latimer Group.
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