So...You are lucky to still be employed in these tough economic times. But your boss told you that earnings are deteriorating and you are concerned for your job. It may just be a matter of time until you get laid off.

Your boss is under a lot of stress and it is a direct reflection on how he or she treats you in the workplace.

You may lose your job due to poor economic times, but you know how to improve your company’s profit potential. I’m going to tell you how to save your job and promote yourself to a higher level in the process.

The stress your boss is feeling is actually rubbing off on you and you wonder if it is at all worth the effort you are making to survive. Funny thing is…you have all these wonderful ideas that can help. You know your company only too well, but you are the low-man (or woman) on the Totem Pole and not really in a position to communicate with upper management. Telling your boss your ideas won’t help. Either she doesn’t care, or she will be threatened by her subordinate coming up with ways to save the company when she can’t.

Let’s take a scenario as an example. You work in a sales company at a lower level. Your position is liaison for clients who buy your company’s products. You realize that sales are at an alarmingly low level that can’t support the salaries of staff much longer. From your perspective, you can also see the issues that exist which are causing customers to consider other options. That is a great place to be. Upper management can’t see it. You can. Your boss might see it, but she is not in that frame of mind where I want you to be.

What is that frame of mind? I’ll tell you. It’s very important to understand the power that you have and what you can do with it. It is also important to realize that this power can not only save your job, but it can create a whole new career for you within your existing employment. Without even changing jobs! You need to have a new frame of mind, one that allows you to recognize your own talents and put them to use. Your talents come from you position. Your special place in you company allows you to see what needs to be changed. You can even visualize the changes that need to be done to improve the business. You need to get this information into the proper hands.

Wait! Not so fast! First off, you are now feeling frightened. That thought of getting this information into the proper hands scares you. You start thinking negatively. You come up with all these reasons why you can’t do it. No one will listen to you. No one will care. Your opinion doesn’t count since you are not a manager, or because you are not in the product research department. Or worse, your boss will fire you for doing something outside of your job description.

All these thoughts running around in your head bring out great emotions, which are very powerful influences on your vision. The trick is to overpower that and change your vision. Try to see wonderful things that can come from your actions. Not only can you save your company and therefore save your job. But, what I am really focusing on is that this is a way to show upper management that you are an important entity for the company and your talents are lost where you are at the present time. Next thing you know, someone higher up says, “This fellow down in purchasing has some really good ideas. I like how he had the courage to get to me and I like how he presented his ideas to us. I want him promoted up here. I want him working for me.”

What I have just done is visualization. It may be overkill, but maybe not. You need to envision it happening in order to get the courage to even consider taking the first step. You need to shoot for the moon. Then when you come up short, it’s still a lot higher than you ever dreamed.

Okay. So now that I said all that, we still need to gain the courage. Those emotions of yours that I mentioned before are still causing a pretty solid brick wall standing in your way.

In order to gain the courage we need to eliminate all the issues that create the fear. The first and most important is how to handle your boss. There are several ways. The best way is based on her type of personality. So in the end, you will need to choose the best method that is in tune with her character. You might need to include her in on it, and let her bring your idea to upper management herself. Or you might give her the credit for the ideas you have and reap the rewards indirectly. After all, one of your reasons for doing this is to keep the company strong so that you have a job tomorrow. You can start by discussing the idea with her and ask for permission to present you ideas to the head of the company. If she is the kind of person who just doesn’t care and stops you, then consider other options.

Never give up. There are always other options. For example, you might one day run into the head-boss, maybe in an elevator. You didn’t go over your boss’s head! This was a chance meeting. Take advantage of it. Plan ahead. You’ve heard of the elevator pitch? Plan one. Keep it ready in your mind for the time when the opportunity presents itself. They don't need to happen in elevators. They can happen anywhere when the opportunity presents itself. See the video at the right for a great example I found on YouTube. You can find many great elevator pitch examples with a Google search. Basically you start by mentioning who you are. Lead into your understanding of the problem. Pique the listener's interest with a brief explanation of the problem as you see it from your level. Then you give a quick account of the solution that you envision and why it will help.

Write the whole plan on paper. Review it and rewrite it. Fix the weak spots and review it again. Change it a thousand times if you need to. Every time you read it and you want to change something, means that you found something you are still not satisfied with. Every change that you make means an improvement. Keep improving until you feel totally satisfied, and comfortable with it.

Considering that you put these plans in order should help give you the courage to proceed. It’s less scary when you can visualize the process and the outcome.

Now, go on and conquer, all the best of luck to you.