Making Yourself Indispensable

This article by John H. Zenger, Joseph Folkman and Scott Edinger published in the Harvard Business Review explores the ways in which we can develop and hone our competencies to excel in leadership positions.

It opens with a hypothetical example of “Tom,” a mid-level manager who produced quality results, but was passed over for a leadership opportunity. To get ahead, Tom would have to do more than improve his existing skills, he would need to work on complementary skills—what the authors describe as nonlinear development. They provide a metaphor borrewed from physical training.

To move from good to much better, you need to engage in the business equivalent of cross-training. If you’re technically adept, for instance, delving even more deeply into technical manuals won’t get you nearly as far as honing a complementary skill such as communication, which will make your expertise more apparent and accessible to your coworkers.

In this article we provide a simple guide to becoming a far more effective leader. We will see how Tom identified his strengths, decided which one to focus on and which complementary skill to develop, and what the results were. The process is straightforward, but complements are not always obvious.