No matter which position you hold today, it is going to change. You will have to move just to be in the same place. And if you want to go up instead of down, you will have to add real, noticeable value to your position.

If you are a CIO, for instance, a research document from The Corporate Executive Board reveals that either you are going to expand your responsibilities into more business-oriented ones or your kingdom is going to shrink abruptly in just the next five years. Hey, how about using Visibility as your stair to the top? Just saying. But I digress.

Maybe you wonder whether you can add value to your company from your position. Maybe you think your responsibility area is too technical. Maybe you think there is no room for innovation. Maybe you think others would not want you to do anything suspicious.

Well, you can do it. You can add tons of value. Moreover, you should.

As an example of how adding value is always possible if you think positively and creatively, I proudly introduce a way to add value… to a bathroom.

The other day we went to the Barceló Hotel in Barcelona for an internal meeting. To my surprise, I saw this in the restroom:

I don’t know if you can clearly see it but it is a detailed procedure of how you should properly wash your hands.

It is actually a chart from the World Health Organization (which you can see better below) in English and Spanish. It seemed such a nice addition to the bathroom, for I had never realized that I didn’t know how to wash my hands. In fact, I´ll rent a room there in the future in hopes of another poster in the bathtub explaining how to wash other body parts.

My point is: if you can add value to a restroom, you can add value to anything.

The book The Fred Factor is named after a postman who really added value to a job that may seem dull as hell. If he could, so can you.

If you don’t know where to start, here is a tip: add a smile.

You are the Master of your career. Just act accordingly.

And remember to wash your hands.