Time to read: 3 minutes
Article at a glance:
- Start by being helpful where you are. Your current role is a meaningful entry point for contribution.
- Know yourself to align your strengths with where you're most effective; self-awareness fuels helpfulness.
- Plug into the information flow through conversations and curiosity to better understand needs and impact.
- Check your ego. Real growth comes from honest reflection and adjusting where you’re not actually being helpful.
Another way to talk about Passion for Contribution is thinking of it as passion for helpfulness.
One of the best ways to be helpful is to start where you are, like Lisa did in this video.
If we hired you to do something, that means we have a need there. So start there! That’s helpful. While your current role might just be a starting point, wherever you are, you have duties. But your role can be any combination of duties and tasks that are constantly shifting based on what your team is doing, what’s needed at the time, and where you are in your Three Circles Journey.
So how can you be helpful where you are?
Here are three tips.
How to Be Helpful Where You Are
#1: Get to know yourself.
Redmond provides lots of opportunities for self-discovery, because this is HUGE on your journey to becoming more helpful. After all, you’re going to be more helpful if you’re working in your areas of strength. But to do that, it helps to know what your strengths are!
Attend a Discovery Seminar. Explore your Three Circles. Take the personality profiles.
Also, regularly reflect on what you’re wired for, how you work as part of a team, and what fills your cup. Ask others about these questions too, because sometimes we’re too close to ourselves to see ourselves clearly.
#2: Plug into the information flow.
"It’s not enough to do your best. You must first know what to do, then do your best." – William Deming
Information flows all around us, and that’s why we need to “plug in” to that flow.
In other words: talk to people, ask questions, listen, and never stop exploring.
Plugging in helps you…
- understand the needs of the company, including our mission and vision.
- see how you and your work affect others, including customers and other associates.
- notice opportunities.
- connect with potential collaborators, inside and outside the company.
What does plugging in look like?
It means talking to lots of different people in different areas of the company, and especially those in areas adjacent to yours. Talk to people who work upstream and downstream from you.
This could be check-ins with other teams, casual conversations, chatting at retreats, All Hands and culture meetings, activities, etc. (There’s a reason Redmond hosts so many retreats and activities!)
#3: Check Your Ego
“Trying to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.” - Kurt Cobain
Sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is realize when you AREN’T being helpful and adjusting.
A major stumbling block here is trying to fit where you think you should fit or want to fit, not where you actually do your best work.
We might think we want to work in a certain part of the process because we believe we’ll be more successful or gain more accolades.
One role or duty is not better than another. No work style, personality, or strength is better than another. Each trait comes with its strengths and weaknesses.
This is all a journey.
We don’t expect perfection. We expect leaning in, trying. It’s okay to mess up. If you find out you aren’t helpful somewhere, good! That’s a nudge toward where you ARE helpful.
You’re going to feel happier and more fulfilled where you’re actually helpful.
