The End of Work as You Know It

MAKE YOUR JOB WORK FOR YOU In today's often-challenging job market, many of us want to feel more engaged with our current jobs rather than try to find the "perfect" position. Veteran leadership consultants and authors Milo and Thuy Sindell share eight thought-provoking strategies to help you create the end of work as you know it--their phrase for the ideal state of harmony among what you do for a living, why you do it, and the results you achieve. Strategies such as Initiate Change, Create Meaning, Spark Creativity, and Build Legacy will empower you to make your job work for you--instead of the other way around. Real-world examples and practical exercises put the strategies into context and are sure to inspire you to take action, transforming the daily grind into lasting, meaningful accomplishments. These tools can help you regroup whenever you find yourself disengaged at the office, regardless of your field or career stage. So when you're ready to quit singing the 9-to-5 blues,The End of Work as You Know Itguides you toward aligning your values with your professional goals in order to fundamentally change your experience of work.

MILO SINDELL and THUY SINDELL, PhD, are leadership consultants and the authors of Sink or Swim and Job Spa. Together, they founded the employee performance software companies Hit the Ground Running and Knowledge Genie. They have been featured in Fortune, CNN Money, Business Week, Forbes, the Washington Post, and NBC News. 

1: Share Expertise
 
CASE STUDY: After two years on the job at his PR firm, Philip was slowly becoming frustrated that new projects and opportunities were not happening quickly enough. Maybe, he thought, it was time to move on to a new company. He was spending too much time waiting for the firm to use his knowledge. He took a step back and decided to no longer be a victim. Although he wasn't working sixty hours a week like at his last job, he was certainly underutilized by his current employer. Philip determined how he could take initiative to share his knowledge with others in the company. He also realized that in his current situation he was working fewer hours and getting paid more money. Isn't this what he wanted anyway? Philip concluded, "Hmmm. More money, fewer hours, and it's like I am a consultant on retainer sharing my expertise when the company needs it."
 
Liberate yourself by making the shift from indentured employee to expert on retainer. Share Expertise to use what you know, maximize your effectiveness, and manage your energy. You have a unique and specific set of skills and knowledge. This is why your company employs you.
 
Is This Strategy Right for You? The Share Expertise strategy is likely to work for you if
 
• You feel confident you've got what it takes.
 
• You're ready to contribute your expertise to provide solutions.
 
• You enjoy continually sharpening your skills.
 
• You want to position your skills so they'll be put to maximum use.
 
When to Apply: Breathe a fresh and liberating perspective into your work. It's time to recalibrate your expectations of your job—what you give, how you give, and what you expect in return. Share Expertise to manage your expectations of your work and to maximize your unique skills and knowledge.
 
What Sharing Expertise Will Do for You: Sharing expertise will help you to effectively contribute what you know, reevaluate your relationship with your work, and appreciate your workplace in a whole new way. You'll experience a transformative shift from simply being an employee to redefining yourself as a paid expert. You will feel liberated because you will contribute on your terms. Making this choice will also help you save and manage your energy for when you need to step up and put your knowledge, skills, and talents to use.
 
Do you go to work feeling like the knowledge you bring is not always used by your employer? Does it seem that, although you are engaged and motivated, only a small percentage of what you have to offer is used? Maybe you feel tired of extending yourself—volunteering for projects, suggesting new initiatives, and working way too hard, yet not reaping the rewards. Sometimes you need to step back, evaluate the true value of what you bring to your job, and identify the most efficient way to contribute—even if it means working less.
 
What Is Expertise?
 
Imagine a world of work where you get paid for your ideas. In fact, people depend on you to share your expertise with them. Wouldn't that be a great world in which to exist? Wait a minute—you already work there! That's what you are paid for: contributing your ideas and knowledge at work. It is challenging to have this perspective when your work environment feels out of your control: customer demands, team dynamics, market shifts, projects that come and go, and demands that are placed on you can push you from too much down time to no time to think. What if you stepped out of your current perspective and put yourself in the driver's seat? For a growing number of people, their workplace is viewed as a customer; they are available to that customer when and how they are needed: as experts on retainer. As hired experts, they share their expertise to their employer when and how it is required. In making this shift, your perspective changes f

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Excerpted from The End of Work As You Know It: 8 Strategies to Redefine Work in Your Own Terms by Milo Sindell, Thuy Sindell
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