You have read this right. Nobody is indispensable in an organisation, not even the CEO. And sorry to break it to you, the same applies to you and me. The day I came to that realisation wasn’t particularly pleasant, but it does make my work life a lot easier. And I still see a lot of people working around like their businesses can’t function without them. And who pays the price? Both the individual and the organisation actually.
So let’s pull this apart a bit, to understand what is really going on with people (and this includes us). There we are in our great job, with responsibilities and a million or so things to do. We interact with all those people, we have multiple deadlines, things going wrong and a mountain of e-mails to answer – let alone read. As a result we feel involved in our jobs like a 9.5 out of 10. Time off? We wish, but we can’t phantom the idea of coming back to a pile of work and potential new issues. And who can even stop to start with. Is this you?
Another way this ‘indispendable’ mentality manifests itself is when sick people come to work. I’m not accusing anyone here, and I have been oh so guilty on many occasions myself. But it has become common to come to work, even when you are unwell. As long as you can stand up and hold a mouse, there is an assumption that work can, therefore should be performed. And the key driver of that is again that people feel obliged to show up, to contribute and give.
This leads me to the crunch of the matter here: what we feel as an obligation is purely a product of our conscienciousness. This ‘product’ could be cooked up from a love of control, a tendency to perfectionism, a fear of missing out, a lack of self-trust or a combination of the above. We can all pretend that’s not us, but these are only normal human feelings that we experience. So we make up a story in our head (most times unconsciously) that we have to be there. Because we are not fine with not being there.
I must however also say that some companies play a role in making people feel ‘obliged’ to show up or behave like they are indispensable. Organisations which are too lean on resources, or have leaders who themselves feel indispensable, will create environments where employees are feeling the pressure to be there – including at odd hours. Probably not places where we want to hang out for too long.
The other side of the coin is that organisations by nature always take. They don’t give to their people, unless obliged to like in our salary. Which means that if we don’t watch our limits, our working hours, nobody else is going to do it for us. Some well-minded managers might encourage us to be less present, but that’s how far it will get. And that’s the sad truth about it: you think you are indispensable, but in the event that you can’t be there life goes on at work. Who hasn’t witnessed this when ‘important’ people have left suddenly?
So I’m on a campaign for more compassion, including self-compassion, when we can’t be there. Because nobody is that indispensable, especially at a time where technology allows us to work remotely and attend virtual meetings. We need to stop the stories in our heads about why we have to show up. These are not serving us, and whilst we are at our desks in less than average condition, we are not serving the place and our colleagues either. Sickness can also be a sign that we are overdoing it, that we need to slow down. So by pushing on, we are only making the matter worse. Whilst this is actually a message to care more about what’s important.
Next time you are sick, or feeling that you have to be somewhere at work for a particular reason, try dropping the guilt, including with yourself. We are all humans, and can empower others to respect this as well by the same token. Managers will manage, and the world won’t collapse. You are not indispensable to your workplace, but you are indispensable to your own self. Choose well.
