Nah… That wasn’t it… Here it is now:
Inconvenient Truth No. 1, of How to Get a Pay Raise, that will surprise you, but, nevertheless it is true:

pay raises are decided BEFORE you even step into your boss’ room to ask for one!

Isn’t it incredible and totally counter-intuitive?

Indeed, in this first Inconvenient Truth lies the key to a lot of your frustration regarding failing to get the results you wanted, i.e. a pay raise, when implementing, even very meticulously, all the “hacks” and “tricks” you found online. And don’t get me wrong, I’m sure some of them are excellent!

The problem is that they focus on the in-the-room ask, BUT, 9 out of 10, this is not how the decision is made!

If you think you can maneuver your boss, into giving you a pay raise he or she does not think you deserve, just because you’ve learned the right things to say, in the correct order, and with a high self-esteem attitude to boot, then you have another thing coming! 

This whole focus on the in-the-room salary negotiation talk with your boss, misses on the myriad of crucial factors that come in to play in the decision-making of whether to grant you the pay raise you’re asking for, or not. (I’ll go into each and every one of those factors in another Inconvenient Truth Bomb video in this deck).

The point of this Inconvenient Truth, however, is twofold. Once you can truly take both in, you can finally start turning things around, from monetary failure to monetary success.

The first point is to absolve you from the mental and emotional self-flagellation, you have probably experienced, after failing to get the results you wanted, i.e. a pay raise, even though you’ve meticulously implemented said “hacks” and “tricks”.
Now, if you’ve been following me, you know I do not absolve frequently or frivolously. On the contrary: I’m very big on assuming  personal responsibility, in regard to everything you do, and do not do, AND the consequences that follow. So when I tell you this one is not your fault – trust me: It isn’t!

The second point of this Inconvenient Truth is, to make you aware of the inherent, core problem with the practice of focusing on the in-the-room talk with your boss, that is the ask, and this problem is: Pay raises are  not decided in-the-room, but BEFORE you even step into the room!  So putting all your eggs in the “hacks” and “tricks” basket for the in-the-room ask, is investing your time and efforts in the wrong place, and at the wrong time. No wonder you have failed, and if you keep on focusing there, you’re destined to keep on failing forevermore.

Indeed, pay raises are NOT decided according to how skillful you are in presenting your case or in negotiating it, per se. Of course, suck skills are very important, and can absolutely up your game in many situations, so they are worth mastering. BUT, if the first time you apply them (at all, or in full, and/or with extra preparation) is in-the-room, AT THE TIME OF THE ASK, than it’s too late!

Indeed, those “hacks” and “tricks” regarding the ask itself , are utterly useless, when taught and executed, as a stand-alone practice. They are only relevant, and practical, as LAST step tactics. They are the culmination – not the starting gambit: All the main work should have been done beforehand: Weeks and months and years prior! (See I told you, you wouldn’t like it).

Let me stress this even further. If you walk into that room (your boss’s office), to ask for a salary raise, and this:

1. Comes as a surprise to your boss
2. Your boss is not fully aware of your contribution, that merits this ask
3. Your boss is not of the opinion that you are NEEDED
4. Your boss is not of the opinion that you are needed, to the point of him or her fearing being regarded (in their own mind, and/or in the mind their boss) as an incompetent idiot if they lose you
5. Your boss is not just afraid of losing you, but all the more so, to lose you over some measly sum of dollars (or whatever your currency may be)
6. and by “measly” I do not mean that you had asked for a small sum, but that it should have been perceived as small in comparison to potentially losing your unique contribution, should you be refused said ask, thus pushing to resign and move your valued contribution, elsewhere (maybe even to THE nemesis competitor)…

…so, If you walk into that room (your boss’s office), to ask for a salary raise, and all of the above is true, or even only some of it, then you have not done any, or all, of what you should have done, in all those prior weeks, months, and years, and your chances of getting a pay raise are very slim, to none!

At the very best (in such a case), you might be getting some peanuts thrown at you, to keep you quiet, and I’ll address that in another Inconvenient Truth, later in this deck.

Look, you must be honest with yourself: Do you really think that, if all of the above is true, your boss is going to be miraculously signing a check, just because of some “hacks” and “tricks” you pulled out of your sleeve? Of course not!

Thus, when your pay raise has been denied, after focusing only on the ask itself, you can blame the “experts” and “coaches” who sold you on this misguided focus. Not your boss, nor the company that employs you!

Furthermore, if you were diligent and thorough and consistent, with doing all you should have done BEFORE ever stepping into that room, then, your boss should have been already EXPECTING you, for some time, even wondering, when you will make the move for the ask. And this is because, when you are a true MVPs (most valuable players) – note I stress true MVPs, i.e. not just in your mom’s opinion, but a factual, provable MVP, by the metrics your employer considers most – then your employer won’t let you go so easily. On the contrary, they will fight to keep you, meaning they will be willing to go a long way, to give you what you want!

They would consider this (your pay raise), as ‘the price of doing business’, so they WILL appease you, as an MVP, into a prolonged industrial peace, within the company.

This is especially true in competitive industries – which are the only ones we speak of, anyway.

Surely, you can see now, why I say a pay raise is granted, or refused, before you ever step into the room. Indeed, when you do everything right BEFOREHAND, your pay raise is ripe for the picking: No “hacks” or “tricks” needed. Moreover, in such a case, those “hacks” or “tricks” may even be – not merely superfluous – but down right tacky.  

The only place “hacks” and “tricks” may come in handy, is, the potential salary negotiation that ensues, if your boss, acting as a representative of your employer, decides to play hardball, thus making you sweat a bit, over a period of some days or weeks, as the two of you go back and forth on the exact sum of your salary raise, and/or other benefits.

But even then, those “hacks” and “tricks” will account for maybe 5-10- 20% tops of your success, whereas doing the needed work weeks-months-years BEFOREHAND, as we suggest, will ensure 95-90 or 80% at the lowest, of your success, respectively.

This real work beforehand, is what this channel WILL teach you: The non “hack-y”, non “trick-y” focus of ours, but instead, the sustainable, long term, needed work, beforehand, so, the things nobody else is teaching you, and we do this completely different focus to everybody else’s because, this is the only pragmatic and REALISTIC focus that – time and time again, without fail – dramatically
ups your chances to ACTUALLY to get that pay raise

So if you’d like me to keep uploading this type of content, even if you don’t always have time to watch it ALL the way  through, then subscribe, give this video a thumbs up, 
and hit the notification bell! Otherwise – you know it’s all doomed, right? I’m at the mercy of the algorithm and the algorithm goes by what YOU say, so, you know what to do. If you want to. Which I hope you do.

OK, so:

In-the-room “hack-y” and “trick-y” focus of others,

Vs.

our long-term establishment of your worth, to make you organically considered eligible for a pay raise, together with our non “hack-y”,
non “trick-y”, ‘beforehand’ focus.

It’s like the difference between learning some kick-ass pickup lines, to hit on the ladies, which will work sometimes, but mostly not: They will get you rejected 95 percent of the time vs. what we offer, at the Pay Raise Commando, which will get you at the very least engaged – not to be married but in a conversation – which was what you wanted.

So (for the sake of this example), were we to train you for dating, we, at the Pay Raise Commando, would be… (instead of teaching you
kick-ass pickup lines), we would be developing your character, attitude and behavior, as a man and as a person, plus giving you the tools for career success, which, put together, makes you irresistible to the ladies, with no need for tacky pickup lines, that most of them hate anyway!
See the difference there? 

So, to sum up this Inconvenient Truth No. 1, there are 3 crucial takeaways here + a bonus takeaway that puts it all together, and, hopefully, changes your outlook on how to get – not a – pay raise, but pay raises, plural, along your career:

1. Pay raises ARE decided before you even step into the room!
2. It’s a marathon – not a sprint!
3. It’s about strategy, more – much more – than it is about tactics

so the choice is now yours: (this is not the bonus, yet – don’t worry, we’ll get to it)

You can either hop on to any of those very clever, in-the-room, with-your-boss “hacks” and “tricks” kind of channels, (it’s so much easier to get your clicks when they feed you what you want to hear…)

and some of them have solid tactics, that WILL work, but only if you have done the work we teach you and WILL be teaching you on this channel,  BEFOREHAND, meaning before you step into the room to ask for the raise, whereas when you apply those same tactics as stand-alone “show”, they are hit or miss, mostly miss, and yes, some hits, just as some people hit the jackpot and win the lottery, but you can’t really rely on it is a surefire practice.

Indeed, they will gladly supply you with all the top notch “pick-up lines” for a great pay raise ask, some more artistically than others, maybe even with props like Excel sheets and briefcases and what not, on top of the mandatory fiery passion in your eyes…  

And all that incredible orchestration, will knock your boss’ socks off, and that alone will miraculously make him or her sign the check, (your check), just because of your astute phrasing, masterful technique, and self-esteem theatrics –  

so you can go that way – totally your prerogative, and if that is your choice: Farewell and thanks for stopping by – no hard feelings (do give us a thumbs up on your way out, thanks)

So all that, that’s a sprint.

OR

You can start training with us (my team and I), for free, right here on this channel, for the marathon that real monetary workplace success is.

We will do many deep dives:

– into your branding (which is not necessarily what you think, plus, in our method, introverts can play the game too)

– we’ll also deep dive into your office politics that you probably hate
(but hopefully we can give you a different slant on it)

– and finally we will redefine what “top-performance” really is (also not what you think…)

so there’s a lot of work to be done – but don’t worry, it’s all doable, and I will personally be here for you, guiding you step by step, until you succeed!

Join me on the next video/post in this Pay Raise Inconvenient Truth Bomb Deck, where I escalate the degree of truth (in the truth bombs
I’m going to drop on you), to the point of you may not liking me too much… which will be counterproductive to the “Subscribe” and “thumbs up” I want from you. Well, what can I say… I’m the Simon Cowell of the workplace – telling you the truth without any pandering. (Or rather, he may be the BossProblemBuster of Show Business… yeah… probably that way around… makes sense…)

But for now:

get back to work! You know I can’t get you that pay raise, if you don’t actually (at minimum), do the job!