Have you convinced yourself of a negative outcome when seeking a raise?

By · Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014

Most-of-my-lifes-worstMark was a Process Engineer at a large Pharmaceutical manufacturer.  He is excellent at what he does and often comes up with better processes that save time, money and human capital.  With 12 years at his firm, Mark figured he was at least $60,000 underpaid altogether.

Mark worried that if he approached his boss, Dan, the result would be catastrophic. He imagined that his boss would interpret Mark’s request in the worst way possible.  Dan might think “Mark is not happy here.  Maybe I should get rid of Mark.”  Or “Mark is not deserving of a raise.  He only does okay work.”  In other words, Mark had convinced himself of a negative outcome.

How many of you reading this felt similar ahead of asking for a raise?

Sure there is a risk in every activity. Let’s assume Mark deserved a raise and had a great system for asking.  In this case the worst that will happen is that Mark will get a “no” response or told what he needs to achieve to secure the raise.  The vast majority of time those are the worst responses. Of course there are exceptions.  There are ways to deal with every boss’s personality, many of which we’ll cover as we progress through these postings.

What experiences have you had that are like the above?  What was your outcome?

 

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