04.08.08 The 4th Key for Adding Value as an Employee

4. Keep Your Eyes on the Big Picture

My mind goes back to the time when our airline tried to venture into courier business then discovered that we were yet to develop the capacity to offer that kind of product; and wisely withdrew quickly back to familiar terrain. Courier business was not the airline’s ‘big picture’. Had we adamantly stuck on our idea of ‘courier business’, the airline would have incurred losses and guess who would have been held responsible: the commercial manager and her team; a thing which would have dented our profiles. In business, all that glitters is not gold.

A value-adding employee ‘keeps her eyes on the big picture, which means making sure that whatever you do ‘steers’ towards the vision, mission, goals and strategic objectives of the organisation. For instance, Proverbs 4:25 says (MSG): …  Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither right nor left; ….

Therefore, be focused on the organisation’s strategy. Know the bottom-line outcomes that your organisation is looking for, so that you deliver results which are aligned to the top-priority areas of the organisation and within record time.

Avoid proposing or implementing mega changes at the top level before achieving any success at a lower level. Consider breaking down mega problems into smaller ones so that they are easier to tackle; and manage those first. Work towards handling larger ones as you gain confidence. What products, services, methods or approaches can you improve at a small scale, at the individual, team, departmental and, or organisational level?

Start small as that gives you the luxury of ‘pulling out’ in case things do not go as initially planned. Put a time limit beyond which you should withdraw, to avoid over-processing and unnecessary wastage of resources.