How to Make Yourself Indispensable at Work

Being indispensable at work means making it incredibly difficult for your organization to replace you.

It requires hard work, being extremely reliable, making your manager's job easier and building relationships with key decision makers.

How’s life been treating you? Lately it’s been rough on many people during the Covid-19 pandemic. Can you believe that most people are operating today in a mode of survival rather than thriving at their work?

There is a lot of fear amongst people about being laid off from work. I recollect here Joe who attended one of my virtual leadership training early this year offered by his company in San Jose, USA. Joe had been working for eight years with this IT company as project manager Due to the constant threat of layoffs, and automation taking over jobs, Joe had taken up additional work to survive the layoff during this pandemic. He worked hard and tirelessly keeping up with global teams. However, in September 2021, Joe lost his job. He is now frantically looking for another job while blaming the pandemic, his company policies, and technology for taking away his position.

I meet many people like Joe, who are afraid of losing their jobs. I know leaders who take up extra work to get job stability. Looks like everyone is wanting to survive instead of thriving

Here are five steps you can take to make sure you thrive at your work and truly be indispensable.

1. Be an Energy Gainer

Most of our work hours go in complaining. It takes a good amount of energy to complain. Because you are in the complaining mode, blaming situations and people, your efficiency decreases. Productivity goes down, and results fall short. 

2. Increase Your Value

If there is one thing you can do to beat a machine or your peers, it is to increase your value. Improve yourself, work on yourself year over year, carefully differentiating yourself from others, and creating your personal image.

3. Take Actions Daily

A dog can only be a dog; a tree can just be a tree. But humans can be anything they want to, provided they take action. You must get out of your head and take action. With action, you open a new stream of possibilities. 

4. Demand More of Yourself

Stagnancy sets in when you don’t demand more of yourself.  Work harder, demand a higher level of excellence from your own actions, and completely focus your energies on what you can do, not what you can’t. Push yourself to dream bigger, work smarter, and do more

5. Be a Step Ahead 

I spent time in India in 2014, where I had the opportunity to witness a chess tournament. It quickly became apparent to me that the players are not merely living in the moment but thinking several moves ahead. The same applies to our work life.

Now as you practice these techniques, you will never fear losing your job, and nor will you find your growth stuck. Even in the worst of economic situations, you would be able to do well anywhere.

Thriving at your job and being indispensable isn’t easy but it’s doable.