Just the other day, I made the colossal mistake of walking into Michael’s craft store.

I have nothing against Michael’s personally, it’s just that I have no business setting foot in there. In case I’m not being clear, you should know that I sent my kids to preschool in order to keep glue and glitter out of my living space. But, as I recently prepared for a visit from young cousins, I deluded myself into thinking that I would “do crafts” with them.

What does this have to do with your work? Everything.

To be most effective professionally, it’s critical to understand where you excel, where you don’t, and how to identify which opportunities will use your strengths and which ones will take you away from where you add the most value.

Don’t misunderstand me– definitely step up when the team needs you to take on extra responsibilities and stretch yourself into roles that will challenge you.  However, regularly doing work which doesn’t leverage your greatest talents often results in less value for your organization and more frustration for you.

Your unique skill set is what got you hired, so even as you expand your responsibilities, know that working in your “sweet spot” is the bigger win for everyone. Before taking on additional projects, evaluate how well they will fuel you and add value for your organization.

And if you manage a team, keep a close eye on this. It is often your best performers who are most frequently asked to take on additional work and who also have the hardest time saying “no.”

So, strive to work in roles where you are best positioned to help the organization move forward, but also take note if you often find yourself in situations where your skills aren’t best suited for the particular job-at-hand.

In my case, this means that I should back away from the hot glue gun and exit Michael’s…immediately.