Читать книгу Influence and Impact - George B. Bradt - Страница 17

Doing exactly the job in your job description, rather than the job the company or your manager needs you to do, does not help you influence anyone. The need for flexibility is common in start-ups, where most job descriptions say, at the bottom, “…and any other responsibilities as they are identified by your manager.” Successful people in start-ups and fast-growth companies often need to learn new skills, shift between two different sets of responsibilities, or multi-task. In more stable, large companies, a “can-do” spirit is invaluable, but people often learn to only do what their job description says. Unfortunately, this does not build your reputation as a problem solver or “go-to” person.

Sarah took a job at a cloud-based technology company as a software trainer. Her job was to learn how the software works and put together and deliver training programs to the end users. She enjoyed getting in front of a group, using technology, and showing them how to use the system. She found it gratifying to see people learn the skills she had to teach.

When her company was bought by a larger software company, a number of people left, and her new manager asked her to take responsibility for implementing the software as well as do the training. She politely but firmly refused, stating, “I'm a trainer. I don't want to do implementation. It's boring.” Her manager explained that the implementation team was stretched thin, and in order for her to have enough training to do, she would need to help with the implementation as well. Despite this, she again refused.

You can imagine what happened. In three months, as soon as the amount of training work decreased, she was the first to be let go.