For more than 20 years, I have worked in management in one form or another. I’ve managed operations, led one of the largest litigation departments, handled client management, built teams, managed heavy workloads, and worked in environments where priorities could change by the hour.
For a long time, when someone asked what I did, I answered with my title. I was a manager. I worked in operations. I managed litigation. I handled clients and teams.
It wasn’t until I really started looking back over my career that I realized my titles only told part of the story.
There was something I had been doing consistently throughout my career, regardless of the position I held: people came to me when they needed something figured out.
Sometimes there was a problem that had been hanging around for a while. Sometimes the workload had gotten out of control and we needed a better process. Other times, leadership was looking for a new idea or trying to determine how we could get to the next level.
And many times, someone simply wanted to pick my brain.
“What do you think about this?”
“How would you handle this?”
“Can you take a look at this?”
“Do you have any ideas?”
Those conversations were so much a part of my career that I never thought of them as evidence of a particular skill. I was just doing what I did.
The Person They Called When Things Got Tough
I’ve spent a large part of my career in fast-paced, high-volume environments. When you work in those kinds of organizations, you learn quickly that everything is not going to go according to plan.
People leave. Workloads increase. Clients need answers. Processes stop working. Departments fall behind. Something unexpected happens and suddenly everyone is trying to figure out what to do next.
I noticed that I was often asked to step into those situations.
When a key executive left or was no longer with the organization, I was asked to help fill the gap. When a department needed structure, I helped put it in place. When we were in a crunch, I was asked to help determine how we were going to get through it.
I was also invited into important meetings and asked to participate in interviews. Senior leaders trusted my judgment, especially when it came to people, operations, and how something might actually work once we put it into practice.
At the time, I didn’t attach any special meaning to it. I thought it was part of being a manager and being someone who could be counted on.
Now I see it differently.
Pay Attention to What People Trust You With
One of the biggest lessons I have learned from looking back over my career is that your title doesn’t always tell you where your greatest value is.
Sometimes you have to pay attention to what people trust you with.
There is a reason certain people are always asked to train the new employee. There is a reason someone else is called when a customer is upset. There is a reason another person is asked to organize everything when the office is in chaos.
And there was a reason people kept coming to me when something needed to be solved, developed, organized, improved, or thought through.
That pattern helped me understand something about myself that a job description never could.
I am a problem solver.
I am a strategist.
I naturally look at how things fit together. I can look at people, processes, workloads, and expectations and start seeing where the disconnect is.
I enjoy taking a big problem and breaking it down until I can see a way forward. I like developing ideas, improving systems, finding efficiencies, and thinking about what we could do differently.
I also realized that I have a natural ability to recognize strengths in people. Sometimes I can see where a person would thrive or what they are naturally good at before they recognize it themselves.
These weren’t skills I suddenly developed. They had been showing up throughout my career. I just hadn’t given them a name.
Your Best Skills May Be the Ones You Take for Granted
I think this happens to a lot of us.
When you have done something well for years, you can start believing that everybody knows how to do it.
They don’t.
The thing that feels natural to you may be difficult for someone else. The way your mind processes information, solves problems, communicates with people, organizes work, develops ideas, or handles pressure may be one of your greatest professional assets.
But because it comes naturally, you may not even count it as a skill.
That was an important realization for me.
I had been measuring my career by positions, responsibilities, and years of experience when some of the most valuable information was found in the patterns.
What was I repeatedly asked to do?
What kinds of problems landed on my desk?
When leadership needed another perspective, why was I invited into the conversation?
When there was a gap, why was I trusted to help fill it?
What did people consistently believe I could handle?
Those questions told me far more about my professional value than simply reviewing my résumé.
Look at Your Career Differently
If you have been working for 10, 15, 20 years or longer, I encourage you to do something I wish more professionals would do.
Look beyond your job titles.
Think about your career and write down the things people consistently come to you for.
Maybe everyone comes to you when they need something organized. Maybe you’re the person who can explain complicated information in a way that finally makes sense. Maybe people trust you with difficult conversations. Maybe you are always coming up with ideas. Maybe you can walk into a messy process and immediately see what needs to change.
Ask yourself:
What problems am I usually asked to solve?
What do people ask my opinion about?
What responsibilities have I been trusted with that weren’t necessarily part of my job description?
What do I do well without having to work very hard at it?
When things get difficult, what do people count on me to do?
And one of my favorite questions:
What do people call me for?
There is probably a pattern in your answers.
My Career Was Building More Than a Résumé
When I look at my own career now, I don’t just see more than 20 years of management experience.
I see years of learning how to solve difficult problems. I see experience building and improving operations. I see leadership, strategy, client management, people development, decision-making, and the ability to step into difficult situations and help create a way forward.
I see the trust that was placed in me.
I see the times someone picked my brain because they knew I would probably see something they hadn’t considered.
I see the meetings I was invited into, the interviews where my opinion mattered, the leadership gaps I was trusted to help fill, and the difficult assignments I was asked to take on.
Those experiences became assets.
And that realization has changed the way I think about professional development.
Maybe we shouldn’t only be asking people, “What do you do?”
Maybe we should also be asking:
“What have your years of experience taught you to do exceptionally well?”
Because your career is more than the jobs you have held.
Over the years, you have been building skills, knowledge, judgment, relationships, experiences, accomplishments, and abilities that have real value.
The challenge is learning how to recognize them.
For me, it took looking back over more than 20 years to realize that some of my most valuable skills had been there all along.
I just thought I was doing my job.
— Mardi
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