The superstar effect

I told in my previous posts that I focus my energy on making money on my own.

Imagine you brain being a computer's CPU. This means that there is more CPU time that are going to be allocated to my own business endeavor and less to the company I work for. Does this means that I am going to downgrade the quality of my work? Absolutely not. It just means that what ever "think out of the box and make it happen" stuff I could develop for the company, I won't do it.

But how am I able to do it? How am I able to to stick to the minimum required and still please my boss? He even proposed my name for the "employee of the year"! My strategy is simple. I developed what i called the "Superstar effect". I became good at something in the enterprise that no one else, or very few people were able to emulate. Therefore my intrinsic value increased and I was able to be praise while doing less brain work for the company. This brain work (CPU time) not used for the company, I reallocated it to my projects.

You should star to develop the "Superstar effect" for yourself. If you work for someone else, you will become priceless. If you work on your own then the word will spread around and you'll have a competitive advantage.

In effect what I did is simple. I know that most people are Excel and Access illiterate. So I became an expert in those software. An expert to the core: I program it in Visual Basic. Then I developed applications for my department. I automatized reports etc... Now my stuff are all around the department.

So how to develop your own Superstar effect?

1. First read this paper
2. Browse your skills. Find what you are very good at. And see how you can male it contribute to your job. If you have difficulties finding your skills, read this book.
3. Apply your strengths to your job. Develop an expertise or software or what ever that is genuine and unique. If you have a hard time applying your skills, read this book.

Then after a while, you will see that people come to you more and more for advices. At times you will feel like you have a halo around you. But never over estimate yourself. Always work to keep an edge at all time.