💸 You won’t get a raise with negative attitude

I was person that often tended to negativity and ranting about things. I always met my goals, but the managers I worked with, were often very hesitant, when I wanted to talk about getting a raise. So I wondered what was the issue? I got my work done, punctual and always solid, what is the problem. Well it turns out it was probably my attitude.

First let us be in the perspective “Why should I give him/her a raise if I have the feeling he/she will quit next year?” This was a bit of Sumit Kumars Podcast “Minimal Empires” (https://minimalempires.de/podcast), which was a wakeup call for me. Why should my manager give me raise, when he thinks I would quit non-theless? Who would you give a raise? The person who does the work, but you don’t know if the person is there in a year or two. Or the person, who seems to identify with your values, is a joy to work with and ist open for change. Of course it is a second. Because as a manager, it is pretty pretty hard to get the second person. The complainers are often in majority.

I don’t like the term “mindset shift” (it sounds like some of these crypto- and tech-bro terms), but to be honest that is what I had to do. I had to learn what my managers actually want and need. What helped me is to reduce the pain for my managers and give proper feedback with possible solutions. And the most important thing was for me, was not to be to negative about it. Try to maintain a positive attitude “This too shall pass”, “We can do better” and “What can we do to feel more comfortable” where three mantras which helped me. And for the last 3 years I always got a pretty neat raise, without changing my work output very much. It was just the way I communicate.

If these changes did not work… well the best way to get more money, is by applying for other jobs. The chance that you get a better offer is pretty high. You don’t have to take this job, you could also take this as an “argument” in your talk about a raise. “Listen I want to be here. Because I see so much potential, we can achieve together. But this offer is too good, to ignore. Could you help me here?”. Always remember you can have multiple levers, you just need to identify and use them.