If you are a drain tech reading this, I think you’ll be surprised to find what your boss is really looking for to get you to the next level of your career.

It’s true; your boss is trying to build a team of performers who can rake in the money and minimize his or her exposure to risk in order to turn a profit for the company. There is no doubt about that. But a business owner is really looking for someone who can take that concept to the next level for all involved. And whether you believe it or not, that usually has nothing to do with your skills with a jetter. It has everything to do with your ability to take charge and effectively lead others while taking on more and more responsibility.

In the service business, it is great to have an ‘A Guy’ who run calls all day, does great work, brings in the money and makes customers happy. But an A Guy who wants more responsibility and wants to grow the company is what all bosses are looking for.

Your boss wants you to shine, succeed and get to the next level not only because it feels great, but it makes you, the boss and your fellow co-workers more money. You can quickly get to the next level of your career in a service business, with major increases in pay and rewards, by taking on more responsibility. Here are a few ways you can stand out from your co-workers and get to the next level of your career.

Own the job

The unfortunate part about being a true leader is that when you hit a home run, it was because of a great team effort; but when something goes horrible wrong it was all because of you personally. Taking responsibility is by far the biggest difference between your average A Guy and the ‘Rockstar.’

When a job goes over the expected time because Jimmy the apprentice showed up late three days in a row and Tim forgot to fill up the jetter, the Rockstar says: “That’s my fault. I should have been hard on Jimmie to be here on time or sent him home, and I should have checked with Tim before we left. I will adapt, take note, and correct those actions on the next job.” And then the Rockstar actually makes those changes to how they manage the people and the jobs.

That’s it. That is all your boss really wants to hear. When the boss sees someone take ownership of what goes on with a job, the boss knows they have a Rockstar they can trust. They can put you in charge of more jobs and more people leading to more money in everyone’s pocket.  

Owners are so used to hearing a list of excuses about how it is always someone else’s fault. Owning the job means truly taking ownership and responsibility for the job. When you start to own the jobs you are on, you are on the fast track to being in command — it will not go unnoticed and you will quickly separate yourself from the herd.

Take on more responsibility

Depending on how your company is organized, there is usually an abundance of opportunities to take on more responsibility. Own the process. Stay on top of your paperwork, follow up with customers without having the office staff bug you about it and foster relationships with customers, wholesalers, your office staff, co-workers, business agents, commercial customers, etc.

Do you have to send info over to an estimator? Be more involved and more detailed in the process. Volunteer to spend time with the estimator on your own time and see how they do their job. Build a relationship with the estimator. Do you have salespeople? Ask them to show you how they go about their job, and what, if anything, you can do in the field to make their job easier.

Verify that all equipment is maintained and ready to go so you and your crew don’t get a surprise on a job site arrival. Show up early, leave late. Take control and spend time training new hires. Most important, ask questions, ask if they have any questions and be a good listener.

Pass out company business cards; ask to volunteer as a recruiter online or at the company job fair booth.

When you take control of your day, build relationships and take action, things will go your way. When your boss sees this, raises, commissions, bonuses, vacations, responsibility hikes and promotions will start coming your way — while the guy who shuffles in late, leaves early and is doing the minimum will forever be half baked and going nowhere.

None of this has anything to do with how well you wield your Warthog tip. Sure, you have to have skills, but owning your job and taking initiative is what your boss is really looking for and what will get you to the next level.