Book Review: Invaluable

The uncertain economy  has caused a lot of people to question previously held paradigms of what job security really  is.  We are learning at a rapid rate that it is up to us to create our own job security.

We can do this through starting a business or as Dave Crenshaw puts it in his new book, we figure out what it takes to become Invaluable.

The book centers around a particular character, Jason, that we can all relate to.  He’s young, has high expectations for his career and becomes disillusioned with his initial career path.  Not only is he disillusioned, he begins to take on the dreaded victim’s mentality of his situation.

A conversation with Jason’s grandfather, Charlie,changes Jason’s way of thinking about his career and his approach to it.  In essence, here’s Charlie’s formula courtesy of Earl Nightingale:

The amount of money you make will always be in direct proportion to : number one, the demand for what you do; number two, your ability to do it; number three, the difficulty of replacing you.

That’s great advice but how do you go about accomplishing that task?

This is the information that Dave Crenshaw outlines throughout the rest of the book as he shows how through communication with your team and the use of some specific tools that the author has created, you can work on not only making your self “Invaluable” but also creating successful results for your team.

The Advanced Work Time Budgeter alone is worth reading this book.  When we take the time to analyze the numbers, we start to see where we can make changes.  The Advanced Work Time Budgeter helps you to calculate your real value per hour.  The analysis is an eye opener.

It’s so important to look at how we can maximize the time that we have and become an invaluable asset to our teams and our clients.  My recommendation is that you read this book and then buy copies for your whole team.