Let’s talk about job descriptions for a minute. Then let’s STOP talking about them.
Think about the things you do all day. Now think back to the job description for your position. Are you doing things that weren’t in that two-paragraph blurb? Of course you are. We ALL do a hundred things that were are not spelled out in those hundred or so words. A job description lists the bare minimum of what a person in a given position is required to do.
Okay. Now it’s time to stop talking about them.
Nobody calls home to excitedly report that they did the minimum that was expected of them. You call home when you’ve done something great, produced monster results, made somebody’s day. You call home when you go BEYOND expectations.
It’s what happens when you pitch in and help others at work or help accomplish a greater good without expecting it to be part of your evaluation. It’s what happens when you decide to become a better team member, even though the job description didn’t say, “Become a better team member.” It’s about helping someone else who is crunching for a deadline when your own tasks are under control.
One of the benefits of going beyond the job description is that so many people work hard to stay WITHIN theirs. As a result, when you break out of that narrow 100-word cubicle, it won’t go unnoticed. In fact, it’s the surest path to advancement.
But there’s something else that comes along with it, something much more rewarding. Instead of feeling an extra burden, you actually feel more a part of things than ever, more engaged, more motivated. Work becomes more fun and exhilarating when you make yourself of indispensable service to others.
Here’s how you start.
Find at least three things today that you can do to be helpful to another person. Try to find things that they would never expect. When a thought of something to do comes to you, don’t hesitate. Just do it. At the end of the day, see how you feel when you look in the mirror knowing you rocked someone’s world—and yours at the same time.
Before you know it, you’ll see the recipients “paying it forward”—and back to you. You will have become an agent of cultural transformation, simply by thinking of your job in a different way.
Notice that you generate a sense of self-fulfillment by doing a little extra. You’ll find work far more satisfying, your relations with coworkers and customers become closer and more authentic, and you’ll feel good about yourself.
So why not put THAT in your job description?