Would you work:

- 16 hours a day
- for 6 days a week
- for 6 straight months

To protect your job during a pandemic?

A thread about *becoming indispensable*

Seth Godin describes the ultimate career power move as becoming A LINCHPIN.

The ultimate financial security "power move" is becoming INDISPENSABLE

From the Godin's book https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00371V91S/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

So how can you make yourself INDISPENSABLE

1. Develop unique skills
2. Become your boss' Tylenol
3. Gatekeep unique information

Now back to my friend:

The day the pandemic started, he immediately raised his hand and took on a SECOND role within his company

Role 1: Debt underwriting
Role 2: Debt restructuring (skills acquired from a previous job)

In his words: "I only had time for a 45 min run each day"

And the layoffs arrived a month later.

15% across the board.

No function, seniority, location were spared.

He survived. (For now.)

An "easy" way to become indispensable is to be the best in your field.

When I surveyed 323 RadReaders, here's where they self-ranked themselves.

What else can you do to become indispensable?

STEP 1:
DEVELOP UNIQUE SKILLS

The common misconception is that you need to become a coder (or Elon going from Payments to Space)

NOPE. Look for *adjacent* skills.

Adjacent skills offer more bang for your buck.

They have a shorter learning curve.

Some examples:

STEP 2:
BECOME YOUR BOSS' TYLENOL

Could you imagine a life without Tylenol?

Neither can your boss

"Should you sell pain killers or vitamins?"

It's an old adage from any Marketing 101 textbook.

From @Ednever blog http://marketingiseasy.com/tylenol-or-vitamins/

How can you become your boss' Tylenol?

Tylenol #1: Be their second brain (i.e. an assistant on steroids)

Track their tasks, deliverables, and deadlines.

Send them smart reminders to keep them on track

Tylenol #2: Organize your team’s information

According to IDC, knowledge workers spend 4.5 hours a week.

If that's not Tylenol, idk what is

Tylenol #3: Create dashboards

Your boss is struggling for a centralized place containing metrics, goals and KPIs.

Create this doc in a simple spreadsheet and constantly remind them where they can find it.

Tylenol #4: Make them smarter (using curation)

Everyone wants to be smarter.

No one has the time to navigate Twitter to find the top 5 articles on Remote Work.

Curate, summarize, distill.

Now here's where it gets

STEP 3:
BECOME A GATEKEEPER TO UNIQUE INFO

Access is hot.

Access is a moat.

These people all got rewarded:

- The A&R who found Lil Nas X
- The angel investors in Stripe
- The reporter who scoops LeBron's next landing place

Gatekeeping that access will make you indispensable.

But unique information doesn't always lie with the Maverick Carters and David Geffens.

When I was looking to find the next big "hedge fund launch," here were some unlikely sources:

One approach, from @bencasnocha:

Identify the SHADOW POWER

From "10,000 hours with Reid Hoffman [ https://casnocha.com/Reid-Hoffman-lessons ]

My personal approach: GENEROSITY-FIRST NETWORKING

1. Having a system
2. Following-up methodically
3. Leading with generosity
4. Connecting the dots https://radreads.co/superconnector-secrets/

Being INDISPENSABLE is RAD.

It's high skill.

BUT it's low-leverage.

Yes. THERE'S MORE.

We'll explore the top right quadrant at our FREE 5-day Bootcamp https://radreads.ck.page/10k 

/FIN (for now)