I was asked recently what was the best career advice that I’ve ever been given was. I thought about this for a while, and I realized that the best advice that was ever given to me by a previous leader was: “You need to work to eliminate your job.” Admittedly, I was confused by this statement. I didn’t want to be unemployed. He clarified his statement and said that your job as a leader is to continue to grow and develop your career so that you have new responsibilities and new challenges thrust upon you. It would be best to focus on driving change to move forward and develop opportunities for yourself and others. He finished by stating that it’s essential to make sure that you never accept the status quo.
That Stuck with Me
To this day, that advice is stuck with me. As a leader, I’m always trying to do this. I love to drive change and shake things up as much as possible, so things stay fresh. The last thing I want is to become complacent, accepting the status quo. Whether it’s challenging processes, building new tools, or devising strategies that take things in new and exciting directions, we should be able to look back at the end of every year and say, wow, this is how much I’ve grown or how much I’ve changed.
Best Career Advice and Driving Change
The more I thought about driving change, the more I wanted to look back every couple of months and not recognize my role and the team that I lead. I want things to be so different that it always feels new, which I acknowledge for some, is exciting, and it’s terrifying for others. Building a team for me comes down to hiring resilient and adaptable people.
Succession Plan
I think the other piece that I didn’t pick up initially from that conversation with my previous leader was that you also need to make sure that you develop a clear succession plan when it comes to eliminating your job. As a leader, you will never reach the next level unless you’ve got someone capable, willing, and interested in succeeding you. Unfortunately, many leaders, especially those who are new leadership positions, underestimate the importance of growing and developing other team members along with them. Some leaders, and I know I’ve been guilty of this myself, strive to make themselves indispensable. They hold back knowledge and retain critical information so that the team has to rely on them. But I’ve learned in recent years that doing so creates a poor environment for others.
Final Thought
Keeping in mind the best leadership advice that I’ve been given. Make it your goal to eliminate your role as it currently stands by developing a succession plan. Tweak and introduces changes to your responsibilities so that the position never stays or feels the same.
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