Quick note before we dive in:
Last year I used Titan Risk to change my insurance policy at Bolt Storage and saved $48K. Want to see how much you can save on your coverage?
Respond to this email and I'll make an intro.
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If you work a W2 job and want to get ahead in life, I have only one piece of advice.
Solve problems for the person ahead of you.
Right now as you are reading this, ask yourself:
Who is 1-2 levels up in my company? What are they focused on right now? How can I take something off of their plate?
Think about that person. You know exactly who it is.
Now think about the problems they deal with on a daily basis. What are the repetitive, challenging, or simply annoying tasks that you could help them with?
If you don't know what problems or pain points they have, ask them directly and see if you can help!
If they are willing, ask them to write down the top 5 things they would appreciate support on over the next 30-60 days.
Figure out how to do just one of those things and get to work.
Take on the responsibility. Help in some way.
If you can figure out how to take stress away from your boss or from the person ahead of you, you will win. You will be invaluable. You will get promoted.
Obviously this is not easy. It's uncomfortable to do this. Its easy to say "Well no I can’t do that because I’m a lower level employee or it's not my job. I would be overstepping my boundaries."
But remember that life is all about putting yourself in uncomfortable situations and the people who are willing to do that the most are the ones who win.
Do you have any idea how refreshing it is as a boss or owner of a company when someone comes to you and asks you that?
Your whole perspective of that person changes.
You now see a go getter. You see someone who thinks ahead. You see someone who is a self starter and wants to make things better.
In the 15 years I’ve been a business owner it has only happened to me a handful of times. Those people are now in management positions and making great money leading the charge at my companies.
When you think like this as an employee going about your day you are bound to find opportunities to prove to the decision makers in your company that you are more valuable than they think.
That said, make sure you are thoughtful about this. Don’t just throw a hail mary and try to make this happen without really analyzing it.
Make sure that you can realistically do it. Make sure that you can deliver. If you don't understand something, ask questions.
Ask them to show you their process at least one time.
Set expectations that you may need a bit of guidance on the first few attempts before you take this task over.
Have them do a meeting with you and record the meeting on Fathom or ask them to make a loom video showing you how it's done.
Tell them that if they do this, you will learn how they want this task to be done and you will take it from there.
Start small to gain some trust before taking on something bigger.
I’ll give you an example of this:
Back when I was running my student storage business it was very seasonal.
Every year, we'd spend the few months leading up to the busy move out season hiring and training 20+ employees at each location.
Early on when we didn’t have a lot of processes my job as the executive overseeing the branch was to make all of the schedules for the customers to get their items picked up as well as schedule out all the employees to work and let them know when to work, where to show up, and how long they will work each day.
On top of that I was also in the warehouse overseeing the unloading and organizing.
One year we had a student manager who took initiative and tried to find a place to add value.
He came to me and asked if he could build out a schedule in advance with the crews and the dates and then take it under his own wing to staff each crew, notify everyone of work schedules, and basically manage all the employees.
We realized that if we watched closely and kept tabs on what he was doing it was low risk so we turned him loose. It went amazingly.
We serviced more customers than ever and it was much less stressful for me as the business owner.
Instead of scheduling customer pickups, employees, and the warehouse I only worried about the customers and the warehouse.
The manager handled the employee schedules which is generally the most stressful part.
He looked at my job during the busy season and figured out a way he could take stress away from me.
He focused on it and communicated well with the employees so more of them showed up for their shifts and they were more prepared.
We instantly gave the manager a raise, he got real world experience, and it was great for everyone!
After 2 years that employee became part of our executive team and and he became an extremely valuable asset.
All because he had the courage to reach out, to ask if he could help us with something he knew was important even though it wasn't in his original job description.
The more that you can be like this person, the more you will win.
This is the key to career growth as an employee and the exercise never ends.
There will always be a new problem or challenge or area you can assist with.
If you go into a job thinking about how much value you can provide, and if you speak to your boss or your manager about how you can take on new things, you will get promoted and advance in your career.
This is the single best way to get ahead if you work a normal W-2 job.
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Onward and upward,
Nick Huber
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