Elaine Fortier

How many people have you seen head out the door in a layoff when you thought they were going a good job?  Lots. Why? Because when it's time to cull the numbers, the people who avoid the chopping block and live to work another day are the ones who outperform their counterparts, demonstrate an attitude of service, and do something distinctive and relevant to NOW.

Outperform Your Counterparts.  You should constantly and actively look for opportunities to deliver more, better, faster.  Whether the economy is in the tank or the stock market is at its bullish best, this is a cardinal rule of success. So while others are performing their roles within the boundaries of their job description and their defined performance objectives, you should be actively looking for ways to go above and beyond. Intuitively, it may feel like a time to play it safe and stay under the radar, but the opposite is true in companies that must find new ways to deliver better results with fewer resources.

Resist the drive to dive for safety, and step out to deliver even greater value with concrete, measurable outcomes that relate to your company's top priorities. If your ideas can bring costs and expenses down, all the better.

Demonstrate an Attitude of Service.  One of the most successful people we know attributes her many promotions to a "What can I do for you today?" approach to her boss, her colleagues and her clients. Madeleine actively seeks input from her stakeholders to guide her priorities and actions. We knew her when she was working for a start-up company that had little money but big recruiting needs. The head of staffing had no budget to develop a career website, which was a key component to attracting job seekers and capturing their resumes. Maddy somehow managed to work all of her connections in the graphic design community while also leveraging her relationships in the IT department, and for zero dollars she delivered a basic but functional career portal. By the way, this project fell far outside of her defined role, and she worked on it in her evening and weekend hours, just because she knew it was important to the company. Her demonstration of loyalty paid off in many ways. Not only was she spared in the next lay-off, but she was also offered a unique international assignment that she had been hoping for.

Do Something Distinctive That's Needed Now.  What void isn't being filled that needs attention now and contributes directly and immediately to what the company needs today? And whatever it is, all the better if it's something that no one else can do, or if they can, they can't do it as well as you. It's all about adding value today at little or no extra cost to the company. Maddy found out how she could contribute. Start looking today for that void, that vacuum, and design a way that you can fill it, now!

As Wayne Dyer stated, "It's never crowded along the extra mile." Going above and beyond will cause you to stand out when others are fading into the grey walls of cube land.

(c) 2008 Elaine Fortier.  Elaine Fortier. is the Director of Non-Technical Recruiting for Yahoo! She has been in leadership development for over 20 years.