Have you ever stopped to think about why your job exists? Why the company hired you?
The bottom line is that your job exists to make or save money. That's it. Making and saving money both contribute to the bottom line but in different ways.
Why This Matters
We often hear of companies that exist to create better social environments, work with fair trade practices, and support local charities and nonprofits. But a business cannot accomplish any of those without money.
Without money, they can't stay in business, and if they can't stay in business, they can't contribute to society.
Or to your paycheck.
Your position dictates how you help your company make a profit, how much they pay you, and whether or not you advance.
What This Means for Managers and Supervisors
When you understand why your role exists, a lot of decisions get clearer:
- Where to spend your time. If your job is to make your team effective, then anything that gets in the way of that — unnecessary meetings, administrative busywork, doing tasks your team should be doing — is a problem to solve, not just accept.
- How to measure your own performance. Your results are your team's results. If they're struggling, you're struggling, even if you personally look busy.
- What development looks like. Growing as a manager means getting better at the things that make your team more effective — communication, coaching, planning, problem-solving.
The Trap Most Supervisors Fall Into
Most people get promoted into supervision because they were great individual contributors. They were the best welder, the best driver, the best technician. And then they get promoted — and nobody tells them that the job has completely changed.
They keep doing the work themselves because that's what they're good at. They jump in and fix problems instead of coaching their people to fix them. They stay in their comfort zone and wonder why managing feels so hard.
The job changed. The skills required changed. But nobody told them that — or if they did, nobody showed them what to do instead.
Start Here
If you want to get better at your job, start by getting clear on what your job actually is. Write it down. Not the job description — that's usually a list of tasks. Write down what success looks like for your team, and what your role is in making that happen.
That clarity is the foundation everything else gets built on.