- Key Takeaways
- You Don’t Take That Extra Step
- You Are Late to Work or Early to Leave
- You Have a Poor Attitude
- You View Everything as an Obstacle
- You’re Not a
Team Player - Raise Readiness Starts with Impact
- Proving Value Beyond the Job Description
- Reliability and Professional Presence
- Collaborate Like a Leader
- Attitude, Feedback, and Growth Signals
- Make the Raise Conversation Easy to Say Yes To
- Next Steps
- Final Words
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Last Updated on September 22, 2025
Key Takeaways
- Prove Impact: Quantify outcomes that matter—revenue,
savings , risk reduction, customer satisfaction—and surface results regularly to build a compelling raise case. - Be Reliable: Honor deadlines, communicate availability, and prevent surprises; predictable delivery plus strong output makes managers comfortable investing in higher compensation.
- Own Attitude: Replace defensiveness with curiosity, turn problems into proposals, and safeguard client relationships with calm, empathetic communication during stressful moments.
- Multiply Teams: Clarify roles, document reusable playbooks, share credit, and communicate risks early so cross-functional work moves faster with fewer blockers.
- Negotiate Smart: Time the discussion to planning cycles, present concise evidence, bring market ranges, and propose next-quarter commitments that expand scope and value.
Plenty of resources explain how to ask for more money, but fewer warn against behaviors that quietly block progress. Before you lobby for an increase, align performance with business goals, communicate results consistently, and eliminate habits that erode trust. For perspective on positioning and value, consider pursuing that coveted raise as a process—evidence, timing, and credibility—not a one-time conversation.
Want a raise? Stop getting in your own way. Prove measurable impact, be reliably on time, collaborate like a leader, and package your wins for an easy yes. Learn the exact steps to turn performance into pay—read the full guide today #salaryClick To TweetYou Don’t Take That Extra Step
Meeting requirements keeps your job; exceeding them advances your pay. Volunteer for scoped stretch work, document outcomes, and anticipate needs before you’re asked. If bandwidth is tight, look for small, high-return wins that relieve bottlenecks. You were hired to deliver results—owning impact beyond the baseline separates top performers. Calibrate with your manager and ensure expectations are explicit. You also agree to a salary tied to scope; growth follows demonstrable value.
- Prioritize Outcomes: Choose projects that reduce costs, speed delivery, or increase revenue; quantify results in dollars, cycle time, or error rates.
- Own Ambiguity: Tackle fuzzy problems by defining scope, risks, and milestones; update stakeholders weekly to maintain alignment.
- Cross-Train: Learn adjacent systems or processes to eliminate handoffs and create documentation guides that help teammates work more efficiently.
- Show the Math: Track before/after metrics and share a summary monthly so leaders see consistent, compounding improvement.
While other books or websites might list a few standard bullet points on the subject from an expert in the HR field, Jim takes a "novel approach," weaving interesting stories, case studies, graphs, humor, and personal experience.
You Are Late to Work or Early to Leave
Reliability drives trust. Chronic lateness or early departures signal weak commitment and force others to cover gaps, which hurts your case for a raise. Build buffers into your commute, align hours with
You Have a Poor Attitude
Skill matters, but attitude travels farther and faster. Eye-rolling, sarcasm, or defensiveness discourages
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You View Everything as an Obstacle
Persistent roadblocks often mask missing ownership. Reframe problems as solvable constraints: identify the root cause, propose options, and recommend one with trade-offs. Arrive with data, not just anecdotes, and secure a decision quickly. When you escalate, include what you tried and what you’ll do next. Managers promote problem solvers who protect momentum. Replace blanket “can’t” statements with time-boxed experiments to find a workable path.
You’re Not a Team Player
Individual excellence is necessary but insufficient. Organizations advance people who multiply others. Share credit, document reusable work, and communicate proactively across functions. When priorities shift, clarify roles and revisit deadlines rather than working in isolation. If your expertise is niche, make your knowledge accessible so your availability does not block teammates. Visibility should highlight collective wins and your role in enabling them, not just personal effort.
- Collaborate Early: Invite stakeholders at kickoff to surface constraints; agree on success criteria and escalation paths before execution starts.
- Communicate Clearly: Use concise weekly updates with risks, blockers, and next steps so teams can adjust without surprises.
- Share Credit: Call out partner contributions in summaries and reviews; this builds goodwill and strengthens your
leadership signal. - Mentor & Document: Pair on tricky tasks and publish short playbooks; reducing single-point dependency increases
team throughput.
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Raise Readiness Starts with Impact
Earning a raise starts long before the conversation. It grows from visible outcomes that move priorities your manager cares about: revenue,
Proving Value Beyond the Job Description
Doing only what is assigned rarely changes pay. Choose scoped stretch work that reduces bottlenecks, teach others what you learn, and document before-and-after results. Share concise updates that highlight outcomes, not effort, and invite feedback early so course corrections are cheap. The following practices help you demonstrate compound value without burning out or stepping on toes, while creating a record decision-makers can reference during review cycles.
- Outcome First: Frame tasks as measurable problems and report results in terms of dollars saved, time saved, or risk avoided; maintain a running log that decision-makers can easily review.
- How-To: OKRs: Translate
team goals into your contributions using a planner and review progress biweekly so priorities stay aligned when roadmaps shift. - Narrate Progress: Send brief weekly updates with wins, risks, and next steps to reduce surprises and make impact visible beyond your immediate
team . - Right-Sized Stretch: Pick one high-leverage improvement at a time; deliver, measure, and only then add another, protecting quality and credibility.
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Reliability and Professional Presence
Consistency signals trust. Arriving late, missing handoffs, or letting messages languish forces others to compensate and weakens your negotiation position. Build buffers into commutes, communicate planned time off early, and agree on response time expectations with your manager and partners. Keep commitments visible with a lightweight tracker, and flag risks before deadlines slip—pair reliability with concise, respectful communication that de-escalates issues. When people can plan around you confidently, your value becomes easier to recognize.
Collaborate Like a Leader
Top performers multiply others. In cross-functional work, clarify roles, decision rights, and success criteria up front, then document decisions so momentum survives handoffs. Share credit generously and make your work reusable. When conflicts arise, focus on shared outcomes and trade-offs instead of turf. The habits below raise your
- How-To: Roles Map: Run a kickoff using a RACI-style roles and responsibilities play to define owners, approvers, and inputs before execution begins.
- Proactive Updates: Post weekly status with risks and asks; keep stakeholders aligned and reduce last-minute escalations that derail timelines.
- Reusable Assets: Convert solutions into checklists or playbooks; sharing enables teammates to deliver independently and scales your impact.
- Constructive Escalation: When blocked, propose options with pros and cons; request a decision, then document and proceed decisively.
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Attitude, Feedback, and Growth Signals
Skill wins attention; attitude keeps opportunities flowing. Replace defensiveness with curiosity by paraphrasing feedback and outlining the adjustment you will test. In customer moments, demonstrate empathy and a calm recovery plan. Ask for periodic calibration on priorities and performance so there are no surprises at review time. Track your improvements and share snapshots. Leaders reward colleagues who turn friction into progress and model professionalism under pressure while maintaining high standards.
Make the Raise Conversation Easy to Say Yes To
When results are precise and recent, present them straightforwardly to facilitate a simple decision. Time the discussion near planning cycles, present concise evidence tied to
- How-To: Prep Packet – Build a one-page summary with three quantifiable wins, stakeholder quotes, and next-quarter goals using a salary negotiation guide.
- Timing & Agenda: Request a dedicated meeting near review planning; share your packet in advance so your manager can advocate effectively.
- Market Context: Bring recent role-aligned ranges from reputable sources and explain how the scope and outcomes justify your request.
- Agreement & Follow-Up: Capture decisions and next steps in writing; if deferred, align on specific targets and a timeline to revisit.
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Next Steps
- Quantify Results: Track three quantifiable wins each month, tie them to
team goals, and share a short digest that your manager can forward during planning and review cycles. - Protect Reliability: Add 15-minute buffers to
meetings , agree on response-time expectations, and use a task tracker to flag risks early, ensuring deadlines remain predictable for partners. - Lead
Collaboration : Run a kickoff to clarify owners and success criteria, post weekly status with risks and asks, and document decisions so handoffs proceed smoothly across teams. - Package the Ask: Prepare a one-page summary of recent results, schedule a meeting near planning, bring market ranges, and propose next-quarter commitments that expand scope and measurable value.
Final Words
Growth follows evidence, not wishes. When your work consistently advances objectives that matter—such as revenue, efficiency, customer outcomes, and risk reduction—your value becomes easy to recognize and reward. Pair dependable delivery with thoughtful communication so stakeholders can plan confidently and see your influence beyond immediate tasks. Strengthen partnerships by clarifying roles, sharing credit, and documenting reusable solutions when it is time to discuss compensation, present current results, market context, and a clear plan to scale impact further. That structure invites a straightforward yes.
Would you like to defy the odds and achieve success beyond anything you ever thought possible? Do you want to change your destiny for the better and become an incredible person in the process? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, buy this book.
Mark Fiebert is a former finance executive who hired and managed dozens of professionals during his 30-plus-year career. He now shares expert job search, resume, and career advice on CareerAlley.com.
