I came across this article on BI and thought this would be a good lesson/perspective. "Musk told Brown (his long time assistant of 12 years) to take two weeks off, during which he would assume her responsibilities and see if she was really critical to his success." I bet you can guess the outcome. More importantly, the suggestions/recommendations/questions at the end of the article ring true... 1. do an "audit" of your responsibilities. 2. "Could a temp do what you're doing and keep your boss happy? If the answer is "yes," or even "maybe," you might need to step up your game." 3. "you want to make your boss need you — not just have you on board." So consider: "What makes [your boss] successful and how can you align yourself with that?" 4.. "flat-out ask your boss whether you're adding enough value to the organization. You don't even have to wait for your next performance review," 5. " are there any areas that I could work on, on my time, that would help make your (boss) job easier?" Bottom line: You just want to make yourself an integral part of your boss' success — and the company's. http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-yourself-indispensable-at-work-2017-8 Self-check - I personally have a different perspective and definition of MY success mainly due to the nature of roles I do for CEOs and Boards which is...."Success is when I become DISPENSABLE."
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Good advise Emerson (and I many times suffer the same "success" factor as you.