Written by: Sophie Warwick
As women there is often social and systemic pressure to put the needs of everyone around us first. We may unintentionally find ourselves supporting our own needs with only the energy that happens to be left over. However, it’s difficult to show up fully for other people if we haven’t taken care of ourselves first.
One of the most important areas we need to support ourselves in is our compensation and financial wellbeing. Compensation is so closely tied to our feelings of recognition and being valued at work. When we feel undercompensated, it can distract us from performing to our full potential. For this reason, it’s so important to take the time to invest in ourselves and in the way we prepare for negotiations.
We don’t have many opportunities to so meaningfully impact our financial wellness as we do in performance reviews, new job offers or promotions. This makes it extra important to take advantage of those chances when they do come around. In this article, I’m sharing my top three ways you should invest in yourself this year.
Show up for yourself the way you would for others. We are often busy juggling many conflicting demands, whether that be our role at work or personal responsibilities. We often hear from our clients about how they advocated for their team members but have discomfort around doing it for themselves. Remember that taking the time to care for yourself provides you with more energy and focus to also care for those around you.
If you are feeling undervalued or undercompensated, those thoughts will dilute your ability to support your team. Additionally, it can foster feelings of frustration that can lead to less productive or more emotionally charged conversations, limiting the value we can offer to our team members. When we hear safety protocols for travel, service providers heavily reinforce the importance of donning our lifejacket or oxygen mask before helping those around us. If we are not protected, our ability to protect others is reduced. Remember to put on your compensation lifejacket first.
Preparation is a key differentiator. There is often a misconception that some people are good negotiators and others are not. While it is true that we all have strengths that come more easily than others, adequate preparation closes that gap. If you have an upcoming opportunity to negotiate, take the time to prepare. If that means blocking your entire Sunday, or maybe your entire weekend, commit that time to yourself to show up powerfully.
Do what you need to do to feel confident going into your negotiation. The care you take in preparing, to feel good about what you’re asking for and how to articulate the ask, will show up clearly to your leader or hiring manager. And it makes a difference in the final amount you receive.
Support from advisors will help you show up more powerfully. Compensation can be such a taboo subject making it very difficult to discuss with our network. This social pressure can lead to many women preparing for negotiations in isolation. The challenge is that it can be difficult to formulate our negotiation script independently and articulate our strengths to their full potential when we do it alone. Get the support of an advisor who can help review the key terms from a market perspective, identify areas to push on, and craft a persuasive “ask” that demonstrates your impact clearly and concisely. Remember that you’re not in this conversation alone.
Looking for support in your next compensation negotiation? Whether it be for a promotion, new job offer, performance review, or any time you want to have a meaningful conversation about compensation with your manager, we’re here to support. Book in a 1:1 prep session with us today here and invest in yourself this year.