How To Make Yourself Indispensable

"The wind cannot break a tree that bends."

                                                               African Proverb

After almost 10 years of working in human resources, I've had the unfortunate task of laying off a lot of people. While the reasons for being chosen to get laid off varied, I noticed that the people that were kept behind had one very important thing in common and this trait made them absolutely indispensable.

I remember early in my career taking human resources management classes at NYU and lamenting to my instructor during a conversation how some of my co-workers were so agreeable to everything.  I explained that they were so quick to just do what was asked of them (the nerve, ha!). She looked at me, leaned in and said, "And those people will always be employed, Angelica."

People who usually got saved from a layoff were indispensable because they were always willing to be flexible. They were willing to roll with whatever changes the organization was experiencing and they were willing to adapt. Think about the last time you were confronted with a situation where you showed a lot of resistance.  How did that work out for you? Chances are, the more resistance you had towards your situation, the more difficult it was for you to adapt.

Often times we hold on to how things were or how they're "supposed to be."  But when you truly let yourself adapt and roll with whatever comes, it will benefit you in the long-run.

A lot of times we would come across employees who were not willing to change, were "set in their ways", or hung up on how things used to be in a company.  For managers, these are considered people that are difficult to work with.  Sadly, it was these folks that would get a pink slip.  Most were great at their jobs, loyal and dependable- but they lacked that essential trait; flexibility.  

Whether it's at work or in your personal life, changes are always inevitable.  It's our reaction to change that determines the outcome to any situation.

The next time you're confronted with a situation that requires some change, try being flexible in the situation and you'll see that you'll get more accomplished than if you show resistance.

Photo by Mikayla Mallek on Unsplash

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