How can you become the go-to person in your company?

To become the go-to and indispensable person in your company you want to always be helping others, offering support, volunteering your services and being seen to support the wider business.

I became the most go-to person at my last three jobs. This was due in part to being a Single Point Failure. With the business landscape of the 90's, companies were trying to pay one person and hope they would cover the work of three people. By being the Single Point Failure, spread over three departments, my name is the one that came to mind when employees were looking for answers. By the time I moved on, two positions were added in Marketing, and two in Information Technology. Having the knowledge to support your organization and be the go-to person says how much you really enjoy your work and the industry, but even better is caring enough to see how many people you represent and helping senior management build a stronger infrastructure.

To become the go-to person, proactively drive results. At LinkedIn, I initiated a revenue-boosting project, shared it with my team, and, with manager support, expanded it company-wide, impacting 8 teams and 70+ employees. This initiative earned me recognition from the leadership team and an award in just six months.

The fourth step to becoming the go-to person is to be adaptable and collaborative in your work. You need to be flexible and open-minded, and embrace change and innovation. You also need to be supportive and cooperative, and work well with others across different teams, departments, and levels. You should also seek diversity and inclusion, and respect and value the opinions and perspectives of others. This will help you foster a positive and productive work culture, and create synergies and opportunities for yourself and others.

When you care about something, other people will care as well. In my experience, when you're passionate and knowledgeable about something and you share without gatekeeping, people will naturally come to you as the go-to person.

And another thing…. Why would you want to be the “go-to” person at your company. In this world of side-praised, underpaid, workaholics why would you desire that for your life? Consider your motives for being the go-to person and ask yourself, “am I trying to be overworked? Is there another way to seek recognition? What am I truly desiring to accomplish? Is there a better way?” Sometimes being the “go-to” person is a cover for a recessed/underlying problem. IJS