A Raise - Ask and You Shall Receive

I worked in technical sales in the oil and gas industry as a contract consultant after a steady career as an employee in the power industry.  I loved the flexibility of my contractor schedule - part time to full time each week depending on what I had going on at the time.  It allowed me to take care of my growing boys, support my traveling husband, grow my training business and teach fitness classes.  

One of the salesmen I worked with advised me to raise my contract rate every year.  I had always been an employee before, receiving annual reviews and raises on a regular basis and never had to ask for a raise - or should I say - never thought of asking for a raise outside of those constricts (now that I think of it - why hadn't I?). So asking for a raise was something I knew I should do but I wasn't familiar with the process.  I immediately started to write out all of the reasons I deserved a raise as back-up to the amount I was planning on asking for.  My salesman friend said, "you don't need a list of why you deserve a raise, you just go in there and ask for it!".  He made it sound so simple and logical.  I kept vacillating between justifying and just doing it - and finally wrote a brief letter stating my new rate effective January 1.  

I walked into the executive's office and presented my letter to him after briefly stating my reason for being there, to present my new rates. He opened and read the letter, his mouth gaped open with shock, he then looked up at me and causally said "ok".  And that was it.

Wow! How many times do we hold ourselves back from the things we deserve or new things we want to try by doubting ourselves.  It does always help to have a backup plan (some justification, analysis or research), but don't paralyze yourself with the process.  

Ask and you shall receive.  

Dare I Say What I Really Think?

I recently attended a meeting of professional women in the energy industry.  The speaker's topic was related to the partnership of industry and academia.  For an ice-breaking table topic the speaker posted the picture of Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, on the cover of Vogue magazine and asked, "Does she look like a CEO?".

Our table grew quiet for a few minutes as we all scanned the picture.  I saw a a very beautiful woman in a very blue and professional dress posed horizontal and upside down on a crisp white lounge chair.  Very Vogue - I thought.  It struck me as fun, beautiful, powerful and professional.  Other views came forth.  Some saying it really wasn't professional for a CEO. Everyone is welcome to their opinion.  

It was easy to state my opinion but I am sure not so much for others. Especially if after hearing others speak at the table, they realize their opinion varied greatly from the norm.  

I saw it as a great lesson in risk taking.  Are you willing to share an opinion that is different than the group's?  If you do or you don't - what harm will result? Or what good or positive steps forward will be acknowledged or missed?

I see Marissa Mayer as a risk taker and applaud her actions.  She posed for this picture, knowing the conversations that would ensue, but was not afraid. Her reputation and her performance stand strong.

I recall speaking with a meeting attendee before everyone was seated and the meeting actually began. I said it was possible to move up in the corporate world without selling your soul.  She looked back at me with surprise, hope and a "how can I do that?" attitude.  Look at Marissa, there is one example for you right there.

Dare I say what I really think?  Yes, I dare.

If you would like to see the picture and article, follow the link below.
http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/hail-to-the-chief-yahoos-marissa-mayer/#1

Be the One to Get It Done

Speaking up can be quite a risk, from the corporate world to a personal situation.  If you speak up at work, depending on the culture of your organization, it can be a career changer - sometimes career suicide.  If we speak up in a personal situation we may lose a friendship or more.  People sometimes forget that doing nothing is also a risk.  If we don't speak up, it could possibly be more detrimental than saying what is on our mind.

A young professional was getting frustrated with individuals from another department that were supposed to be showing up to meetings and were late or completely absent.  In the meetings, summer students were making presentations on their summer projects.  They spent countless hours preparing for the event as their future opportunities at the company might be affected by this performance. The individuals that were late or missing from the meetings were supposed to evaluate these students.  Their behavior was so disrespectful and unprofessional.  The frustrated individual wrote a note to higher ups detailing the problem and requested a change in their behavior.  It was so wonderful to hear about him standing up to what was wrong within his organization.

So many people stand by and tolerate bad behavior by saying or doing nothing.  I salute those warriors who are up to the challenge of making things happen for the better of all.

Be the one to get it done!

One Question

I was on a call with several other business professionals and someone mentioned the "secret question". I asked if that was thinking about a question you want answered and listening for possibilities and hints to the answer in a conversation. "Yes", they replied.  They were surprised I knew what it was without asking.  In reality, it is one of a million techniques to inspire your creativity. 

I decided to create my own version of the secret question.  In the past, I have encouraged those who want to up their creativity factor to write down three questions each day and think about them throughout the day.  It is not a requirement to solve them - but be open to any ideas that might come up in relation to the questions.  It may be how to fix a problem, handle a difficult person, or a decision you are contemplating. The questions can be about anything.  I tried the experiment myself and found that I frequently forgot completely about the questions. So, I decided that one "secret" question each day would be more reasonable and easier to focus on.

The first question I posed myself was "How could I get into the habit of writing every day?".  Everything else always seemed to get in the way.  From proposals to clients to laundry and grocery shopping - there was always something else that needed to be done.  No sooner had I put that question into my head, then the next person to speak on the call mentioned she was having trouble getting into her writing and presented two challenges she was committing to. One was to write several hours a day and the other was to get a few friends lined up to review parts of her book every week. Now there was commitment!  And - there was the answer to my question - committing to a certain amount of time and lining up friends to review my writing - which means I had to have something to give them.

It's working. What question will you play with tomorrow?

Risk and the Blue Jean Pile

It needed to be done.  They were multiplying on the hangers and it needed to be done.  I grabbed the whole rack of them, it must have been twenty at least, and pulled them out in one giant armful that I couldn't see over as I walked and dropped them in a pile on the bedroom floor.  My jean collection now lay in a neat stack on the floor and a whole section of open space existed in my closet.  Well, step one accomplished.  They weren't going back until I went through every one of them and tried them on and made a decision.

With each pair of jeans there's a story.  There is the pair I had my first horseback riding lesson in, (is that the day I became a real Texan?) and continue to ride in - just enough stretch to allow me to swing my leg over the horse to mount.  I wouldn't wear them anywhere else.  They probably shed horse hair as I walk even though they are washed after every ride.  Another pair is the one that I truly wore until the material became baby soft.  It takes a long time to get a pair of jeans to that state.  And the stories go on.

So, it is hard to let go of them.  I separated them into piles; ones that I was sure needed to be thrown out or given away, ones that I wasn't sure about and ones that I would keep.  At least I was making progress. Finally they went on for the final fitting and decisions were made.  A bag of beloved jeans made its way to the garage to wait for a Goodwill delivery date. 

The same kind of process happens when we want to make a change or take a risk.  We hesitate. We look at the risk as something that is too big to tackle right now or as a situation where we are not sure about the outcome and we put it off.

If we can just break it down into smaller pieces (i.e. smaller piles) and tackle it piece by piece, we are finally able to break through and make some progress.  There are emotional obstacles to overcome, but they too fall.  And the end is finally realized - (the closet is finally clear) and it feels great!

Here's to tackling a risk - bit by bit!

Just Say NO To More Work

I think we are overwhelmed because simple activities or requirements slip quietly into our lives one by one and before we know it we are overloaded.  We didn't think it was a big deal when it came up so we didn't resist but now that we see the whole shebang - it is a big deal. 

Years ago I worked as a contract engineer in technical sales.  We frequently entertained customers - especially on the golf course.  Apparently one salesperson was playing a lot more than they were working and the CEO started mandatory Friday afternoon meetings at 3:00 pm to indirectly address the situation.  We were all punished because he didn't address the situation with the individual and no one would address the unnecessary meetings with the CEO.  I didn't mind at the time because I was contract and the meetings served as an opportunity for me to catch up on everyone else's projects (as I wasn't in the office as frequently as the full time personnel).  If I had worked full time it would have been another one of those "things you had to do but didn't have time for and wasn't necessary that just slipped into your already busy schedule".

I also teach fitness classes at several studios.  One of the studios acquired new stereo equipment and some instructors were unfamiliar with how it worked.  The manager wanted to have a meeting with everyone to provide simple instructions on how to set the controls and wanted to know when I was available.  I said it wouldn't be necessary - that I could easily figure it out and if anyone had questions they could contact her. Whew - an unnecessary meeting avoided!

Take a serious look at your daily and weekly activities. What has slyly slipped into your schedule that could be eliminated? Take a risk - speak up - be a time waster eliminator.

Open the Shade!

A few short weeks ago we were headed to Alaska from Texas on an early evening flight.  All of the window shades were down but I could tell it was still light out and knew we were flying over a magnificent part of the country.  Half of the passengers were nodding off in their seats and the other half were watching the featured movie or engrossed in their own technology. 

"Why wasn't anyone peeking out the window? Were we supposed to keep the shades down the whole time for the movie?  What would happen if I opened my shade - would the airplane police rush to my seat?" A number of questions ran through my head as I contemplated opening the shade.

I decided if I carefully and slowly raised it just a few inches it wouldn't interfere with the movie.  As I peered through the few inches of window I had uncovered I was rewarded with a breathtaking view of snow capped mountains that went on forever. I felt sorry for all of the other people on the plane that were missing this spectacular opportunity.  I shared it with my husband and then reluctantly lowered the shade. Every so often I would raise the shade again and peer under the edge to enjoy the amazing view.  Wow! And no airplane police ever came over to discipline me.

This afternoon I opened a fortune cookie and read my future - "the simplest answer is to act".  How true that is.  We hold ourselves back from taking action because of all the supposed rules or the worries we have that may never actually happen.  What are you missing?  What spectacular dream or vision or experience?  Take a risk - act - evaluate and keep moving forward. 

(Of course - some risks require more analysis and planning - check out our classes or Creatrix assessment on Creativity and Risk Taking if you want to delve deeper into the topic.)