Oh My God, Millennials, there is so much written about you and your needs. What you need to do to get ahead. How to survive in business. Why your generation is what it is. Was it the helicopter parenting? Was it the “everyone gets a trophy” mentality? Everyone wants to know what happened and how to work with you.

So much time and effort is going into figuring out how to make you happy in the workplace, within the constraints of the working world, that is.

It’s almost funny, except I know it’s serious because if you aren’t happy at work, you are going to quit. Switching jobs frequently doesn’t allow you to get the skills you need to really move up and feel fulfilled.

But I have a secret for you that will help you get ahead.

Something that will get you to the promotions you are after. Something that will make your boss feel like they just cannot live without you!

You aren’t going to like it. It’s a shift in the way most people are used to thinking, but believe me, if you can do this, you will be the super star at your company. And better yet, it will help you toward getting the work life you’ve always wanted.

YOU WERE HIRED TO MAKE YOUR BOSS’S LIFE EASIER.

I know. It sounds too basic. But it’s really about your boss!

It isn’t what we are told to tell millennials. We’re told to engage you. Keep you interested. Be flexible, work with you, etc.

But, it’s truly not about you!

Here’s the thing. Your boss has worked their way up. They’ve put in the long hours, they’ve fixed the problems, and then they get to bring on employees (or are hired to oversee employees) which is supposed to free them up to get them to the next level.

They are meant to take on higher level work!

And we all want to uplevel, don’t we?

If you come in and are super high maintenance, your boss can’t get their job done. They are probably starting their “real work” after 5:00 p.m. when you’ve gone home, or they are doing it at home.

You and your boss are not meant to have the same work hours and work load.

But I’m telling you, if you can allow yourself to really get this, it will simplify your life and make you indispensable to the company.

I’ll give you an example. I had an employee once who really excelled at a position supporting a sales team that no one else wanted. She had patience, she was very thorough, and she only came to me when she’d tried everything else first and needed some help. She took a job that had been a thorn in my side, had consistent turnover, and made it pleasant.

One day she came to me to quit. She was newly married and wanted to move to a small town in another state. I could not lose her! She was the key to my happiness at that point so I was able to convince upper management to let her take the job with her. She ended up with Orange County pay, in a low cost of living city, and we did everything necessary to support her working remotely. She was indispensable to me because she made my life easier. In turn, she got the work life she didn’t think was possible and was able to work from home, back in her home state around her family.

Believe me, your bosses want you to take good notes when they give you an assignment, to just get it done well and on time. They want you to find ways to improve upon what they’ve done and if you come in with a good attitude that makes them feel like it’s nice to be a manager. It will take you far!

I’ll give you another example. When I do recruiting I always ask some form of this question:

“What do you do if you are working on a project and you don’t know how to do it?”

The answer I’m looking for is some combination of the following:

• First I would check my notes from my training.
• If it’s not in my notes I would ask if a co-worker knows how to do it.
• I would go online and see if there’s any information available.
• If I’m still stuck after that I would come to you.

This question helped me find “A” players. If someone answered, “Hmmm… I would just come ask you,” I weeded them out of the interview process.

Self-starters, go getters, employees that do what it takes to get the job done are the best!

I’ve told so many managers that I’m writing this post and they all said the same thing “You have to!”

Now you may be wondering, if you are focused on making your boss’s life easier how does that benefit you?

It will. You will become self-sufficient and an expert at managing your time. You will be a “go to” person. You will be a person the company has to have and if you do think of leaving to go somewhere for more pay, there’s a good chance the company will try very hard to keep you.

You can still negotiate salary when you’re in your current role, but first you have to put in some time and really become indispensable.

Which is not the same as killing yourself and having no life outside of work.

It means, take notes! Remember deadlines. Remember what your boss has told you so they don’t say it time and time again.

Ask yourself how you can be instrumental to the company, instead of what the company is doing for you.

Don’t nickel and dime them. Don’t fall into the stereo type of millennials.

You will stand out if you come in, ask questions and then get the job done! On time, no less. And if it truly cannot be done on time, you will have let your boss know well in advance so that he/she can plan accordingly. Right?

I’m telling you that it’s not complicated like people think.

Make your boss’s life easier. Do the WHOLE job you were hired to do.

It will feel good to get the job done and get compliments. If you aren’t happy after you’ve taken this approach, keep being self-sufficient, keep meeting deadlines, but start to manifest your dream job (see: How to Manifest Your Dream Job vs. Take the Job You “Can Get” and How to Thrive When Your SUPER Ready to Quit Your Job).

With this attitude, you will be the person moving up!

XOXO,

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