Being Irreplaceable

As the economy and job market continue to climb back on their feet, a few books have been published that address the 'survivors' on a personal level, the most notable being Seth Godin's Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? In it, the author describes the characteristics that define a person who brings value to the work, groups, and experiences they are involved in. On one hand a personal development book, on the other hand, it's an economic development book, as it addresses how we as individuals can contribute to turning things around for the companies we work for in the process. Similarly, Dave Crenshaw, author of The Myth of Multitasking, has penned an interesting business parable called Invaluable: The Secret to Becoming Irreplaceable. This book takes a narrative approach to some of the ideas addressed in Linchpin, which creates some nice hypothetical scenarios of real life situations. The fundamental message of the story is the bottom line: how can you prove your worth, in dollars, to the company you work for? In other times, this might have been a harsh question, but is extremely relevant now, and books like Godin's and Crenshaw's can help readers better analyze their own worth. Instead of viewing the question as an attack, these books help look at the question as an opportunity to understand your skills, and their direct affect on the business you're involved in, which, in any day and age, is good information for each of us to have a grasp on.