For the next 5 minutes, let’s elevate your career.

In today’s email:

  • You get what you negotiate

  • Don’t be too humble

  • This week, next week

  • Savor

  • Karen Brady’s career wisdom

ON YOUR CAREER

You get what you negotiate

The world isn’t a meritocracy.

We may be lucky to have managers and sponsors in our organization who advocate the value we create.

It’s a risky strategy though to rely on the memory and good will of others.

An empowered strategy is to directly promote our achievements to the decision-makers in our organization.

When they understand the value we create, we’re in a good position to negotiate the promotions and compensation we want.

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You don’t get what you deserve in life — you get what you negotiate.

— Karen Brady
COMMUNICATION

Don’t be too humble

Humility is a virtue. But humility moves from being virtuous to limiting when we’re too humble.

The only people who benefit from us being too humble are colleagues who want to take credit for our achievements or managers who want to underpay us.

It can take courage to promote ourselves. More so if we are shy. In the section below is a simple and reliable technique to manage visibility with our managers.

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Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.

— Jeff Bezos
PRODUCTIVITY

This week, next week

Some of my coachees write a brief email on Friday afternoons to their manager. It outlines in bullet points the significant things they achieved in the preceding week and what they aim to achieve in the next week. I encourage plain, accurate language. Not too humble.

This practice is an efficient way to:

  • Focus on urgent and important tasks

  • Manage your visibility with your manager

  • Give your manager an opportunity to refine your goals if needed

  • Have a clear record of achievements for promotion and compensation negotiations

  • Hold yourself accountable for your progress

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Without promotion, something terrible happens… nothing!

— P.T. Barnum
1 MINUTE TO SERENITY

Savor

Pausing and savoring our achievements helps embed them in our long-term memory.

This means that it’s easier to recall them when we have life’s inevitable setbacks.

Recalling reminds us of our competence. This builds resilience.

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You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.

— Walter Hagen
CAREER WISDOM

Karren Brady

Karren Brady (1969 — ) was born and raised in London. At 23, she became managing director of Birmingham City Football Club when it was close to financial collapse. Brady restructured and grew the club to its sale. In 2010, she became vice-chairman of West Ham United, overseeing its move to the London Stadium and its commercial expansion.

Alongside football, Brady built a media career as a business columnist and became a long-standing adviser on The Apprentice UK. She was appointed to the House of Lords as Baroness Brady of Knightsbridge in 2014. Some of Brady’s career and life wisdom:

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Success is about hard work, resilience, and learning from failure.

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Confidence comes from preparation, not luck.

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Never be afraid to ask for what you want.

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