You Are Not Indispensable
Walking down memory lane and watching Perry Mason may cause you to think that Della Reed was indispensable to Perry Mason. That girl could work! She was absolutely dependable, knew what her boss wanted before he knew, smiled at the right time, remained quiet when required, always brought just the right document to court at the very moment Perry needed it. Available all hours of the night or day. She even traveled when required and she never let her personal life get in the way of her job! Poor Della remained the dedicated spinster secretary to Perry all the way into the 80’s. Let’s face it, Perry would have been nothing without her!
Guess what: she was still subject to dispensability! And Perry would have carried on without her. He’d have found himself a new Della, a gal with all the right moves at all the right times, who was just as much the super legal secretary that Della was.
So why didn’t he? Because Della knew that she could be replaced. She never put on airs, acted like the company would fall apart without her or put others in a position of thinking that if it weren’t for her, they would have no job. Not only was Della the perfect employee, she knew never to let her knowledge of her perfection go to her head and become apparent to her boss! She never lost sight of the fact that no matter how good she was, she was dispensable.
Thus the secret to truly being “indispensable” lies in being able to recognize that you are not indispensable.
You want to keep your job, right? Then operate from the viewpoint that your job matters, your boss matters, and your co-workers matter.
Never operate from the viewpoint that the place will fall apart without you, or that nobody else can do what you do, or that the whole office is in motion because of you. There’s nothing a boss or co-worker hates more than that type of attitude! Interestingly, it is the attitude like this one that also shows just how dispensable you are.
Never lose sight of the fact that the office was running before you arrived, it was running while you were there, and it will continue to run after you are gone. Sure, there may be a few bumps in the road after you leave, and there may have been a few bumps in the road before you arrived, we are not trying to discredit the work you do or the value that you are to the company.
We just don’t want you making the mistake of letting it go to your head, thus causing your overall value and worth to the company to be jeopardized. Never forget that your indispensability lies in knowing that you are not indispensable!
Terms:
indispensable – absolutely necessary, essential
dispensable – not necessary or essential
You are not indispensable – a phrase that employees will sometimes hear from a manager, co-worker or owner indicating that they are not essential to the company.