Insight #350:
Where there’s a job to be done, at home or at work, someone needs to be in a position to do it. Used in that sense, “in a position” means “able to” do it. But it also means that someone must be in the place where the job can get done.
This is why, to get work done, businesses advertise positions, vacant positions that must be filled.
Consider for a moment the work you do in your job. Do you fill the position you’re in? At first glance, this seems to be a dumb question. Of course you fill it. You take up the space, don’t you?
But my question isn’t about the space you fill. It is about the role you play and specifically about the outcome you must produce. Whether you fulfill the role and deliver the outcomes.
Here’s the thing about positions. Some people more than fill the position they are in and are soon promoted to something bigger. Other people fill it exactly and stay where they are. And then there are people don’t quite fill it. If they don’t develop into it, they are soon asked to empty it completely for someone who might fill it better.
If you like your job, then fill it exactly and you will keep it. If you want more, then more than fill it so that you expand into something bigger. But if you don’t really want it, then don’t really fill it and it won’t be yours for long.
Whatever you decide, positions must be filled.
By the way, here’s another way I discriminate between leaders and managers. A leader wants something bigger and so leads followers to more than fill positions. But a manager wants a position filled and so manages someone into filling it.
But, again, whether you decide to lead or manage, remember this: positions must be filled.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
(Note: I think I got the original idea for “more than fill it” from something Napoleon Hill wrote.)
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