The best leaders know how to contribute the highest value.
But here's the uncomfortable truth: most of us are so busy doing our work — and doing good work — that we rarely stop to ask if we're doing the right work.
In a recent workshop, I asked a room of thirty accomplished professionals a simple question: how are you measured at work? The room went silent. These were talented, driven people, and they couldn't quickly answer.
That silence is common, and it matters a lot right now. With so much uncertainty moving through organizations, many people are working harder than ever without being sure they're focused on what actually counts. In this episode, I share three practical strategies to help you shift from busy to strategically valuable — without adding a single thing to your plate.
In this episode, you'll hear about:
The Job Pie exercise. A simple, visual tool (borrowed from Korn Ferry) for dividing your role into its real components — project work, stakeholder management, admin, development, the unexpected — and assigning each slice the time it should get for maximum impact, not just the time it currently gets.
The TIE tracker. A tool for tracking your real time allocation so you can compare your ideal Job Pie to your actual one, and see clearly where your time, impact, and energy are really going.
Building your Quarterly Action Plan. Once your Job Pie is clear, this turns it into specific outcomes you can track and discuss with your manager: - Use your Job Pie to list your key areas of responsibility - Define one to five specific outcomes per quarter for each area - Identify the metrics or evidence that will show you're on track - Schedule monthly check-ins with your manager to review progress - Use those check-ins to adjust your focus as organizational needs shift.
Designing your Strategic Development Blueprint. A framework for choosing development that actually grows your value, rather than development that just sits on a certificate: - Assess where you're already adding value, and where the gaps are - Identify growth opportunities tied directly to your key responsibility areas - Choose one to two development priorities per quarter and link each one to a real work outcome.
This week's challenge: Pick one of these three strategies — the Job Pie, the Quarterly Action Plan, or the Development Blueprint — and start with just one conversation this week. Do a little pre-work on your own first: sketch your ideal Job Pie, or draft one outcome you'd want to track this quarter. Then bring it to your manager or your team.
The reason this matters isn't the paperwork. It's that once you can describe your value in clear, specific terms, you stop guessing whether you're focused on the right things — and you give the people you work with a real way to see the impact you're already making.
Resources Mentioned:
Ready to go deeper? If you want to get clear on the value you bring to your role and build a strategic plan around it, reach out for a free consultation. Visit clairelaughlin.com and click "Schedule a Consult" (https://calendly.com/clairelaughlin/30min) at the top of the page.
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Until next time, lead the way!
