How to become indispensable in your first 6 months
Five practical ways to become someone your team counts on from the start.
Last week, a client asked me a question that I’ve been honestly thinking a lot about myself, as someone who’s currently onboarding into a new company:
“How do I make myself indispensable?”
I’ve coached so many people through this experience - even writing about it explicitly in April! - but now that I’m living it, I’m really dogfooding my own advice.
It’s a humbling experience.
Zooming out, I’m thinking a lot about what it means to be indispensable when you’re brand new.
I usually encourage folks to be patient in their first few weeks. You can’t be indispensable on day one. You don’t know the landscape yet. You’re still learning the language, decoding the power dynamics, figuring out who’s who. And that’s okay.
But…there are things you can do early that lay the groundwork for becoming indispensable over time.
Here are 5 tactics you can deploy on Day 1 of a new role:
1. Be perceptive
When you start a new role, dial up your curiosity and remain highly attuned to the needs of the people around you. Particularly your manager and other senior leaders.
There are the obvious things to pay attention to like what they’re struggling with, maybe being underwater or under supported.
But, there are the unspoken struggles that they might not be able to articulate. Putting language to problems and calling out struggles with fresh eyes helps your new team know that you see them. Leading with empathy is one of the best things you can do in the early days. New coworkers know that you can’t be a silver bullet day one, even if that’s what they want you to be. At a very bare minimum, you can offer your ear and make sure your coworkers are heard. And that’s a huge gift you can give, no matter how long you’ve been there.
2. Lean into your strengths
…even if they’re not in your job description.
Every team has gaps. Sometimes they’re tactical (unconnected dots) and sometimes they’re more strategic (team misalignment). Keep an eye out for what’s missing and see what’s reasonable for you to take on in a thoughtful, low-lift way.
Say things are happening really quickly in slack and decisions are getting lost in threads. Maybe you see the pile up coming from a mile away and the easiest thing you can do is spin up a simple document to capture all the action.
Or, say you’re getting conflicting perspectives and you see an easy way to iron out a decision. Maybe you see an opportunity to gather folks on a quick call to show the gaps and come to a resolution quickly.
You’re not going to move mountains week one but you can start to offer help in ways that come natural to you. And with those small actions, you’ll start to build trust and tap into the rhythms of the company.
3. Bias for action
Assertiveness is underrated. Don’t wait to be told where to contribute. I like playing and advising others to play the “new card” for as long as you can.
Not in a “bull in a china shop” kind of way. More in a “let me help you carry that stroller down the subway stairs1” kind of way.
It’s bold and usually very appreciated.
Lead with what you’re seeing and then take action. Try:
“I noticed you’ve been getting lots of questions. I’ll create a repository of answers so we can make sure to get people what they need quicker?”
No permission, just action based on real, perceptive observations.
The goal isn’t to bulldoze.
It’s to make it easy for others to say “yes, please” to your contributions.
Related: I loved Josh’s piece on 30/60/90 being too slow for startups. As someone who just started at a startup, he’s not wrong.
4. Be reliable
Ok this is really something for all times but if you can establish you’re a “follow through” kind of person that operates with boundaried speed2, it’s a really good look.
One of the fastest ways to become indispensable is to do what you say you’re going to do. Especially in the early days. Every follow-up, deadline, and commitment counts. People are quietly figuring out if they can count on you. It’s about consistency.
Reliability builds credibility.
Credibility builds influence.
Influence builds indispensability.
5. Brag about yourself
Ok, brag might be too aggressive for some of you but log your wins and make sure people know about them. Someone I’m working with is launching an AI product in less than 6mo into a new role. That’s a big deal!
How am I coaching him?
I’m pushing him to talk about it more.
I like to think about it as internal product marketing to your other coworkers. If you talk about your work in an assertive, yet humble way, you can build a reputation as the person that does [insert amazing achievement3].
Doing good work isn’t enough. The people who get ahead know how to tell the story and sell the value of their work.
Creating indispensability isn’t about doing more. In fact, do less!
It’s about being perceptive, intentional, and generous.
I’d love to hear what you’ve done to become indispensable starting in a new company.
Very niche New York. Note to self: Don’t offer to do this and realize you don’t have the arm strength to follow through on the promise.
Act with speed but don’t drop boundaries to get things done. Aka no responding to slacks at 10pm.
gets shit done, listens to customers, ships projects, moves quick, you name it!
BRAG ABOUT YOURSELF is a crucial lesson. Some of us love to do great work and hope that it gets the recognition it deserves. That's never the case unless you have a team/boss that looks out for you. If you spend 20% of the time creating something, you should spend 80% of the time distributing and promoting it!