Layoffs. Downsizing. Ugly news.

So what can you do to keep your job?

Be indispensable.

Those employees that are so needed, necessary and valued will be the least likely to be let go during a downturn.

That’s what an encore performer achieves. When I wrote The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do, I believed it was a critically important concept for staying competitive.

Now I believe it is critical for survival, not just prosperity.

I wish it weren’t so, but the events of the past 30 days have made it a whole different world. Companies will be making unpleasant decisions because they must, not because they want to. All but the goofiest will do whatever necessary to keep the indispensable encore performers (there are always exceptions to any rule).

What is your PDA: professional development agenda? What are you doing to take your work game “2LU”: two levels up? What new value are you creating? What big problems are you helping to solve? What improvements have you suggested and/or implemented?

Now is not the time for the faint of heart. Always go for the encore. Do whatever you can to become indispensable.