KJ

Navigating the issue of salaries sure is a sensitive subject to many, most especially the act of asking for a pay raise. We’ve been raised to believe that talking about one’s compensation is in bad form, so rather than break this “taboo” most would choose to be quiet even when they deserve a salary increase. But the truth is, there’s nothing wrong with asking for a better salary especially if you deserve it. There’s no better feeling than getting recognized for doing a good job. It’s an instant mood booster and a great motivator to do more work. A simple “Thanks!” or “Good job!” can already do wonders, what more if it comes by way of monetary compensation? So if you think you’ve put in the hard work to earn it, go ahead and ask for one. It certainly does a lot for your career success and satisfaction. Here are several salary negotiation tips to get that pay hike that you deserve. Timing is everything . Now you can’t just go ahead and ask for a raise whenever you feel li...

Even when you genuinely love what they do, you will occasionally have days when you dislike your job and have growing doubts about your career path. This can be an unnerving feeling. When you dislike your job, it is disheartening, and it becomes easier to abdicate your personal and professional responsibilities. Guard against that or you will derail yourself. You want to ensure the person managing your career is you. Therefore, make it a regular practice to reflect on your current state. Review your attitude and assess what has changed. When you look in the mirror, describe whom you see. What do you think you sounded like to people who may have overheard your conversations today? Is your job fun? Why or Why not? What’s changed from the first day you started your job? (Was it your job that changed, or you?) What if neither you nor your job changed?  Would you be happy to keep doing what you’re doing now for the next five years? (If no, you must learn to recogniz...

Success for me has never been about the money, or the moves up the corporate ladder. Are those some of the benefits of hard work, more than a dozen geographic moves, continuous global travel, and great people supporting me on the team?  Absolutely. But I measure my own success more broadly: the strength of my family, the rewards that come from giving back, the successes of those I’ve mentored. Through it all, I’m always trying to listen and learn, and if I can do that, I am succeeding. I realize none of this is tangible; there was no absolute life moment when I knew I’d succeeded. Instead, I have always based my life on principles that have transcended every step, instilled in me early on by my parents, friends, teachers, and coaches. Later, these guidelines were reinforced by mentors at work: Have I lived my life with dignity and respect for others and myself? Have I asked others to do something I wouldn’t do myself? Will my community be better for my having...

How can we bridge generational gaps at work? How can we leverage them? The Women in Capital Markets Initiative—which brings together leaders from across finance, academia, and policymaking—addressed these questions at a series of get-togethers in New York City and Washington, DC. Principally, the discussion explored the challenges and opportunities associated with the changing workforce, including communicating across generations, talent gaps, and how firms and managers can attract and retain talent. The events were facilitated by experts from BridgeWorks, a research and consulting firm specializing in generational dynamics. The conversation was conducted under the Chatham House Rule, to encourage candor, but I'm pleased to share a few of the group's insights with you. Recognizing Generational Similarities, Differences, and Challenges The conversation at both events began with a recap of the widely-recognized generational boundaries. Millennials – Mil...

If you want to be a great negotiator, you have to be a great improviser. There’s no choice in the matter. You can’t script the process. It’s too unpredictable. The people you deal with will have their own ideas about how things should go. That’s why we all can learn from master improvisers in other fields, especially jazz. I described a business application of this principle in one of my early posts. In another—on the importance of paying heed—I quoted pianist Herbie Hancock of sometimes being so focused that “I’m listening with my toes.” Today’s negotiation lesson comes from trumpeter Miles Davis who said, “It’s the notes that you don’t play that matter.”  I found another great example of how this maxim applies powerfully to negotiation in my colleague Deepak Malhotra’s new book Negotiating the Impossible. Right there on page 145 in bold type he channels Miles by saying: “Ignore ultimatums. The more attention you give to them, the harder it will be for the other...

Everybody makes mistakes—that’s a given—but not everyone learns from them. Some people make the same mistakes over and over again, fail to make any real progress, and can’t figure out why. “Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.” – Bruce Lee When we make mistakes, it can be hard to admit them because doing so feels like an attack on our self-worth. This tendency poses a huge problem because new research proves something that commonsense has told us for a very long time—fully acknowledging and embracing errors is the only way to avoid repeating them. Yet, many of us still struggle with this. Researchers from the Clinical Psychophysiology Lab at Michigan State University found that people fall into one of two camps when it comes to mistakes: those who have a fixed mind-set (“Forget this; I’ll never be good at it”) and those who have a growth mind-set (“What a wake-up call! Let’s see what I did wrong so I won’t do it again”). ...

In this short blog series with HRD Business Summit, I was asked questions that are highly pertinent to leaders, especially leaders of HR. The first question I was asked is: “why engage employees?” The simple answer: Employee engagement is critical for business success. We all agree. We want engaged employees. Employee engagement is defined by marginal effort. In other words, what are employees doing that they don’t have to do? How hard are they trying? Compare two employees – one is working very hard, putting in extra marginal effort; the other is not. It would be a mistake to think that the second will perform as well as the first. Even so, this is not the biggest mistake made in employee engagement. Are we missing half of the equation? As a Fellow in the National Academy of Human Resources, the highest award that can be given to an HR professional in the US, I’ve been asked to speak at many HR conventions around the world. At one recent convention, I had the opport...

In 2010, when I came to the United States for the first time, one of the things that impressed me the most was the abundance of everything. It was a big contrast with the environment in which I grew up. For example, when I was doing my Electronic Engineering degree in Venezuela back in 2000, we didn’t have all the necessary supplies for our laboratories and practices. We had to figure out how to develop successful experiments with whatever we had at hand. And then, in 2012, I completed my Master’s degree in the United States. And I was able to see and have access to a lot of the things that we didn’t have in Venezuela.   Nevertheless, I don’t see my experience years ago as something bad at all. Neither do I see it as something negative today. On the contrary, I think that limited resources, fewer options and scarcity of the exact things we need to do something help us develop several fundamental habits that are key for sustainable success. From my own experience ...