Want to be indispensable at work? Think again.

The advice I gave to my first official associate mentee? “You are dispensable here.” 

She was a little taken aback at first, but eventually, she told me it was the best piece of advice that I gave her. 

I obviously didn't mean it in the sense that she was dispensable as a human being. She is (and all of us are) indispensable in that sense. 

But I wanted her to very clearly understand something that took me too long to understand.

At the end of the day, you are working for a business.

Even if you love the people that you work for or with…

Even if they truly care about you as a human being…

Even if you are the one responsible for a matter or project or team…

Even if your team is lean…

Hear me when I say: You. Are. Still. Dispensable.

If you do not do the work or cannot do the work, for whatever reason, they will find someone who will. At the end of the day, it’s transactional.

You cannot make yourself truly indispensable. And you shouldn’t want to. We like to think that we are indispensable. It feels good to think you are needed. It validates us (temporarily). But for most of the women I know, when you think you are indispensable or you want to be, it’s rarely serving you.

It leads to overworking.

To not taking that vacation. Or to work the entire time.

To saying yes to things you don't want to do.

To being on 24/7.

To going above and beyond over and over again at your own expense.

To burning out. 

To not delegating or teaching other people what you know.

To comparing yourself to your colleagues and finding yourself wanting.

To not taking that job that’s a better fit for you. 

Here’s what our brains don’t understand. We can be both dispensable and extremely successful. We can be both dispensable and an important and valuable member of the team. We can be both dispensable and an expert in our field.

In fact, intentionally making yourself dispensable will actually lead to you being more successful.

It will lead to you creating a career that is sustainable, rather than one that leads to burnout and resentment.

It will enhance your leadership skills by requiring you to delegate and train people to do parts of your job, freeing you up to do the parts you are more currently suited to, to up level your skills, to take on the next role.

It will lead you to being indispensable in a way that serves you - in a way that has your firm wanting to keep you around even if they don’t technically need to.

So you are dispensable, and that’s great news! Act accordingly.

A ❤️ note to you: If you find yourself constantly acting against your own best interest, your own wants, your own desire, your own mental, physical, and emotional well being at work, let’s chat. You can be extremely successful without doing any of that. I promise. If you want to hear more, send me an email (jenn@jenndealcoaching.com) or sign up for a free consult with me at jenndealcoaching.as.me/consult.