"We make an infinite number of choices each day, but there are six fundamental choices that will dictate our life experience."- Making Yourself Indispensable, pages 19-20
The six fundamental life choices that lead to being indispensable serve as guides to daily living. They are choices between the following:
Being driven by a purpose or driven by a goal – Have you ever encountered a customer service agent who truly listens to you and works hard to satisfy your needs? That agent is most likely driven by a purpose (e.g. “Be in service to others.) Have you ever encountered a customer service agent who is clearly reading from a script and ends your interaction by reading a canned statement indicating that their company values its customers? That agent is most likely driven by the goal to read their script with each and every customer.
Choosing to play big or play small – Playing big is about choosing to generously share your skills, talents, and gifts in service of others. Conversely, playing small is about being selfish with your talents and abilities.
Being adaptable or being rigid – In our quickly ever-changing world, being adaptable is critical. Being rigid and sticking with “the way we’ve always done things around here” will quickly make you dispensable.
Being WE centered or ME centered – As Samuel points out, “unless you are a hermit, you are connected to others around you”. Making decisions and taking action in service of others and in full awareness of how it impacts those connected to you leads to being indispensable just as surely as consistently choosing to act only in service of yourself will lead to being dispensable in the eyes of others.
Being focused on priority or activity – Of course you’re busy. We’re all busy. There are way too many things on your list for you to ever truly get everything done. So, Samuel advises that we be ever-mindful of what’s most important when choosing which tasks to check off our never-ending to-do list.
Valuing others or disregarding others – Indispensable people acknowledge others’ contributions while helping others grow and develop. Dispensable people are threatened by the growth and success of others.
"The Victim Loop is a way of life in which 'stuff' happens to you. You don’t seem to have a choice. Since we all visit it at different times in our lives, the question to ask yourself is not, ‘How do I prevent myself from going there?’ but ‘How fast can I get out of there?’"- Making Yourself Indispensable, page 50
Samuel’s roadmap to success depicts two loops (i.e. paths) that we all traverse and have access to: The Accountability Loop and The Victim Loop. Following The Accountability Loop leads to becoming indispensable. Following The Victim Loop leads to being dispensable to others.
Samuel frequently acknowledges that as a human being, I am not only likely, but am absolutely guaranteed, to bounce back and forth between the two loops. He also acknowledges that I might not always realize that I’ve switched to The Victim Loop. And so, he devotes time to describing six phases of The Victim Loop so that readers will recognize when they’ve made a choice that places them on it.
You know you’re on The Victim Loop when you exhibit one of the following behaviors:
Once you realize that you’re on The Victim Loop, Samuel recommends that you leap onto whichever phase of The Accountability Loop that makes the most sense given the details of your situation. There are six phases on The Accountability Loop, and the one that resonated most with me involves taking ownership.
"While it is obvious that when we are the cause of a problem we need to fix it, there are many situations in which we are merely involved in a problem or ‘see’ the problem. We still have the ownership to surface it, contribute to fixing it, and support others in fixing it. This is taking full dominion over the problems impacting your life. This is the step of empowerment."- Making Yourself Indispensable, page 99
Taking Ownership is the second phase of The Accountability Loop. It’s what you do if you’ve chosen to play big and become indispensable in an organization. While it requires courage and effort, the reward is empowerment and it’s one of the first steps towards making a difference.
Samuel’s list of places we can take ownership at work is especially helpful. These are seven areas where I think behavior from The Victim Loop runs rampant. The seven areas he lists and challenges the reader to take ownership are the following:
Making Yourself Indispensable delivers on Samuel’s promise of providing a roadmap for success. While none of what appears in the book surprised me, or struck me as especially new, Samuel managed to keep my attention. In fact, throughout the day I find myself asking if I’m being driven by a purpose or a goal, choosing to play big or small, being adaptable or rigid, being WE centered or ME centered, being focused on priority or activity, and valuing or disregarding others. And, as a result, I find myself taking ownership of more and more.
MARK SAMUEL is a Thought Leader and CEO of IMPAQ, an award-winning international consulting firm that guides organizations in achieving measurable breakthrough results within six months through a unique system that links Execution, Culture and Deliverables. Mark is the best selling author of the acclaimed Creating the Accountable Organization and the award-winning book, Making Yourself Indispensable: the Power of Personal Accountability.
