Whether you own a biz and work with clients or you’re a member of a team in the workplace, being easy to work with is crucial if you want to climb the ladder. Opening doors to new opportunities in your career is as easy as mastering some simple workplace habits!

Want to be the business everyone sends clients to? Want to be the MVP for your team and reach that promotion? These are 7 habits that will increase your value at work and help you go after the life you want!

7 Ways to Increase Your Value at Work

1. Stay educated beyond your expertise

Ya know what no one wants to hear?

‘That’s not my job.’

Don’t let your expertise be the limit of your knowledge. Just being an expert in what you’ve been hired to do won’t take you very far. If you want to see yourself grow, work to continuously educate yourself, whether it’s through learning a new skill to better help your clients or taking on a new position in the workplace. Putting in the effort to better yourself and become familiar with new experiences is a great way to show that you care about what you do.

2. Don’t wait to be asked

Success in your career often comes from taking initiative. And whether you own a business or you’re a member of a team, no one wants to work with somebody that waits around to be asked to complete a task. It looks lazy, and by the time someone is asking, the task probably should’ve been taken care of already anyway (yikes).

Instead of waiting to be asked, be the person who steps up to take care of things before someone checks in. This will keep an efficient workflow for you and your coworkers, showing them what a valuable asset you are for the team!

(Psst: master this habit by effectively managing your time. Need some tips?)

3. Don’t keep score

This philosophy also applies to the rest of life — in the game of keeping score, nobody wins.

When we keep score, we’re ultimately losing track of the big picture. If you’re trying to grow in your career or your business, playing tit-for-tat over who did you a favor or who didn’t isn’t going to get you anywhere! Instead, you appear petty and difficult to work with, limiting any opportunities for growth.

Don’t spend your valuable time searching for payback for your good deeds. Simply do good things, and shine on your own. ✨

4. Do what you say you’ll do

Be reliable. If you say you will do something, show up and follow through. Completing what you say you will complete shows others that they can trust you and your work, and are more likely to come to you for help in the future.

If something happens — and believe me, life happens — and you can’t be where you said you would be, just own up to it. Apologize if necessary, but accept responsibility when things come up or plans get interrupted. Avoid the excuses and move on!

5. Be the pressure reliever

Become the pressure reliever in stressful situations rather than a pressure builder. Present solutions instead of problems. Offer help when you are able. Contribute to the overall goal instead of contributing stress to the people you’re working with.

Mastering the art of relieving pressure around you will likely open the doors to new opportunities along the way. When assigning people to projects, leaders don’t look to the pressure builders to get things done. And what if that project is the ticket to a promotion or a raise? Lucky for you, the pressure relievers will be the first in line!

Be conscious of how you affect others around you and consider how to be of value to them. In the end, you’ll be known and appreciated for your ability to get things done (and done well!).

6. Avoid excuses

We often believe that we make excuses in order to make ourselves look better. In reality, we’re really only making ourselves feel better.

No matter what it is, an excuse is just an excuse — and no one actually needs it. If something happens or a mistake is made, own up to it and move on. The excuse changes nothing, as it’s all in the past anyway. All you can do now is take responsibility and move forward!

The ability to be held accountable and skip the excuses is incredibly valuable in a work environment. By taking responsibility, you show that you can recognize and learn from mistakes, rather than blaming others or wallowing in unnecessary apologies.

7. Learn complementary habits

Similar to the habit of continuous education, make an effort to always be learning from the people around you. If you work on a team, what do your other team members do that you can pick up on and learn from?

If you can learn from the other positions in your workplace, you can potentially transfer those skills to a side hustle or leverage them when you create your own business someday. The more you learn, the more you can be of value to your team. Show up for them by putting in the effort, and show up for yourself by unlocking your full potential!

---

QOTD: What habits have helped you in your career?