The «virtues» of work

At work the virtues of humility and modesty in which you were educated are not the most appropriate to sit down and engage in a good negotiation.

When you negotiate, assertiveness and self confidence are the ones that can best help you to get or keep your goals.

A virtue is the activity or force of things to produce or cause their effects and, paraphrasing Ecclesiastes, what we have to understand is that «each virtue has its time and there is a time for each virtue.»

In a job interview, you must value your experience and your skills. It is not about taking the «ego» out for a walk, it is about giving yourself the value that corresponds to you without waiting for you to be appraised by others.

It is true that your company and your boss probably know your curriculum vitae (CV) and that’s why they’ve offered you previously the work you have.

What usually happens is that over time, although you work with the same intensity, your value fades. People get tired soon of things and others, even when they work well, and every so often we want to try something different or give things a new look. This also happens at the work level and could put you in a position of weakness or risk to people or teams with less experience who have not yet proven their solvency and dispute your position of work.

If you have to negotiate at work: to put in value your experience, to show your achievements and to speak with assertiveness and confidence are the necessary tools to achieve a laboral improvement or permanence.

We could say that our bosses know our curriculum but they are not conscious about it. Thus, even if it seems immodesty or lack of humility, you have to «refresh» them why they hired you and what makes you important to develop the work you are doing and why you think you are the best qualified person to continue performing that job. To refresh them the objectives you have achieved and to expose your experience within the company to face up possible new incorporations is essential.

I have friends with many years of experience who, due to their knowledge and age, would be able to rank up and to take in charge their section when the head of that section retires, but, surprisingly, they find that the company hires someone younger from outside, without experience, but with great mastery on new technologies and that they put that person in charge, askingyouo to help that person and explain him or her how everything works and resolve any problem that appears when they do not know how to solve it.

If you have in sight a work meeting in which you suspect that they are going to tilt you or maybe some heads are going to roll down and one of those can be yours, I advise you that do not leave your chances to the luck of flipping a coin and:

• prepare the meeting very well, even if you have a friend that is a coach meet her or him  to talk about it because when we explain aloud to another what worries or what scares us the tumult of ideas about that subject decreases
• in advance put your CV to the day
• be clear before you start what things for you are negotiable and which not
• to control and even rehearse your body language, for example, do not affirm with your head if what you are listening is not to your liking
• let outside humility and modesty
• expose your achievements and highlight your strengths with assertiveness and confidence
• remarque your experience within the company
• enforce your network of national and international contacts
• ask for you that position that you have earned day by day and its corresponding salary, or clearly say what aspirations and projects do you have
• do not rush to speak, remain silent until you hear everything they have to say, perhaps you have a pleasant surprise
• if it is necessary, refuse an unfair reordering of hierarchies, but do not stand like a wall, give something to the company, for example, accept support from the young technological employee
• do not accept at that moment any new offer if you are not sure that you are really interested in it, better ask for a time of reflection and for a new meeting to communicate your thoughts about the new offer having this way a new possibility of renegotiation

It could be that the interview does not go as well as you expected or that the decision was made in advance and there was not really a real negotiation, just a communication of the new situation, but at least saying what you think you will spread the doubt about what they really have to do and you will stay in peace of mind because you have clearly stated your aspirations and have fulfilled your part of the negotiation.

The virtues also have their moment in space and time. So before entering to the meeting through the door remember: leave out humility and modesty and enter with assertiveness and confidence.