It’s easy to fall into the habit of doing just what’s required and no more. I mean, if they wanted more, they would have asked for it, right?

Sure.

Perhaps stop thinking about it as having a job. You don’t have a job. Instead, you have responsibilities. And if you want to keep that job, you need to meet and exceed those responsibilities. That is the game.

But let me ask you this: Do you pay the minimum amount due on your credit cards each month? If you do, you might want to take a close look at your next statement. Give the minimum and it can take seven or ten or twelve years to pay off the balance.

But if you pay MORE than the minimum, you’ll polish it off in a fraction of that time—and pay a whole lot less.

Now apply the same logic to your job. If you’re just doing the minimum, you might be digging yourself a hole. If you think it’s okay to have your coat on at 4:59 every afternoon, for example, you might be the first one out the door in a way you DON’T want.

Instead, make a point of exceeding the requirements of your job. Blowing past expectations is the best way to make yourself irreplaceable.

Too many employees think that in order to have a smooth, drama-free workplace, they have to sugarcoat their communications with others in the company.

In fact, the opposite is often true.

Spinning bad news or sugarcoating feedback can lead employees to distrust what you say. That road leads not to engagement but to disengagement.
Great employees at every level respect those around them enough to be direct and truthful. That doesn’t mean harsh, of course. You can and should tell the truth in a kind and empathetic way. Just don’t let your kindness and desire to avoid conflict get in the way of authentic truth-telling.

Being honest encourages an open and healthy culture. A recent study by the Corporate Executive Board found that companies with a culture that encourages open, honest communication tend to out-perform less open competitors by more than 270% in ten-year shareholder return.

Start building a workplace culture of honest, direct communication today with your own communications. The payoff is too big to ignore.