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What is Your Real Job?
What is your real job?
I recently had a realization: 10-15% of my job is to be a writer. Up until now, I have treated writing as something that is peripheral to my real job of personnel assessment, coaching, and speaking. I focus on bringing in new clients and doing a great job for those clients . . . and then once a month I scramble around like a madman to get Performance Principles written and sent out.
And then it dawned on me – if I don’t spend time writing about how to solve people problems in business, no one will know to hire me! Writing is not something that I do in addition to my real job – it is an important part of my real job.
Furthermore, there are times (like this month) when I miss my self-imposed deadline for sending out Performance Principles. In the past, it did not bother me if I missed the deadline as long as my other responsibilities were going well. Right now, however, it is driving me crazy! Missing a deadline means that I am not doing my job well – and that is unacceptable to me. By clearly seeing that writing is an important part of my job, and by defining the percentage of time I will spend writing each week, I am raising my own standard of performance.
Performance Principle: Take the time to clearly define your job. Draw a pie chart of your key responsibilities. Figure out the percentage of time you should be spending on each activity each week. Inevitably, there will be some areas that you are neglecting. Ask yourself if you can delegate these responsibilities. If you cannot or should not delegate these responsibilities, give them the time each week that they deserve. They are not something you do in addition to your job – they are your real job!
Questions to Consider:
- How do you create value in your job? What is it that your boss and/or your clients value most about what you do?
- What low-value responsibilities can you delegate to others?
- How can you focus more time and attention on the most important things that you do?
