The quest to be the linchpin that we would all love to be seen as by other people, the person that no one can do without, the person who makes the most significant difference, is a mixture of doing what is asked of us and doing more than what is expected.
The lynchpin takes a job on and says "I will get this done and if I have a problem, I will tell you and come to you for advice but if you don't hear from me again, assume that it was done in the way that you wanted or better".
What the linchpin then does is does it better.
When the person who asked for the thing to be done comes back later and sees that it was done and done to a standard greater than that which they expected, then they know that they can't do without the person, and so they use them more.
Striving to be the linchpin, the person that no one can do without is an impossible goal. You will never reach that summit, but if you are heading in that direction, you're way more likely to be the most valuable person in the room in every possible way.
Blog Post Number - 3653