Quick Take | Tips to Help Executives and Leaders Grow
The Quick Take podcast provides concise and actionable tips to help executives and leaders, like you, tackle the thorny and complex challenges that affect us daily. By leveraging their experience and relationship with other global leaders, our hosts provide suggestions that are based on their deep experience as leaders and coaches but also pressure tested in boardrooms everywhere because they asked their friends….(almost). Hosted by James Capps and Susie Tomenchok. Episodes release weekly on Thursdays.
Quick Take | Tips to Help Executives and Leaders Grow
Negotiating Is Unlikely to Jeopardize Your Job Offer
Are you ready to transform your job negotiation skills and secure the best possible offer with confidence? In this episode, we debunk common myths and empower you with advanced executive negotiation strategies. Discover why negotiating doesn’t jeopardize your chances of landing the job and how understanding the roles of recruiters and potential bosses can give you a critical advantage.
We guide you through the multi-step process of job negotiations, helping you strategically advance each conversation. Explore the wide range of negotiable elements beyond salary—remote work options, vacation time, sign-on bonuses—and learn how to effectively prioritize your needs.
In this episode, we discuss the following:
1. Various negotiable aspects like remote work, vacation time, and bonuses.
2. Learning what’s standard or negotiable in the industry you are dealing with.
3. How to negotiate respectfully and professionally for the best outcomes.
CONNECT WITH SUSIE:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susietomenchok/
CONNECT WITH JAMES:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/capps/
Welcome to the Quick Take podcast, the show where you get targeted advice and coaching for executives by executives. I'm Suzy Tominchuk.
Speaker 2:And I'm James Capps. Give us 15 minutes and we'll give you three secrets to address the complex topic of issues that are challenging executives like you today.
Speaker 1:Hey, welcome to Quick Take. I'm your host, Suzy Tomachuk, along with my great co-host, James Capps. How are you, James?
Speaker 2:I am living the dream. How are you today, Suzy?
Speaker 1:I'm really good because we are talking about one of my favorite topics in the whole wide world.
Speaker 2:I know it. I'm so excited.
Speaker 1:It's so great. So we're talking about negotiation, because you were specifically related to a new job offer and the psychology around. Should you counter how do you negotiate? And the research around people feel like they can't. So that's kind of what we're going to talk about today. What would you want to add?
Speaker 2:Well, and I think that I talked to some folks and I'd read an interesting article that ultimately shows that when you negotiate your job offer, you don't negatively impact your outcome. There's no statistical evidence that shows when you negotiate you'll not get the job, but I would. Every job offer I've ever been part of, whether it was myself or somebody else. Absolutely that's not the way you think about it. You think that if you even begin to move the dial that it'll go from a 98% down to a 1%, and it's just really it's nice to realize that. You know statistically and research shows that that negotiating does not hurt your ability to get the job.
Speaker 1:Well, and it's kind of like that psychology around. You've gone through all this time and investment in the interviews and all this and then you're so wanted, like you're to the end that you just want it to be done and you want to leave with this spirit that I'm a nice person and all of those things, and we don't realize that they on the other side deal with people that negotiate on a regular basis, so it's kind of table stakes.
Speaker 2:Well, and I think you know for most jobs anymore, you know you rarely get the job offer and negotiate and interview with your boss right. So at the end of the day, there's a lot of different actors involved and sure they all work for the same company. But, depending, on the end of the day, there's a lot of different actors involved and sure they all work for the same company, um, but depending on the size of the company, those people may not even know each other and so when you stop projecting and just start working the position and the situation you're in independently and try to be objective.
Speaker 2:Um you know you can be more successful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that you're going to not like me on this one, because I'm going to like not stay on your tips.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to stay on your tips because you just made such a good point too is looking at who's the person in front of you. Are they the decision maker? Are they the person you're going to work for? Are they the recruiter? Even having that conversation with yourself should help you make the choice on what information you ask for and when. Sometimes negotiate people start too early because they want to get it over with.
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, that's so great. And I think that so often when I know on more senior roles, you're talking to either a recruiter or maybe a recruiter that's bringing you in temporarily, or somebody in HR, an internal or an external recruiter they actually don't know the answers to all those questions and so that's not. That is not the time for you to be asking very specific things about. You know, maybe, how, what's the budget look like, or things like that. I think if you realize that any good job conversation is gonna be more than one conversation, you're gonna be better off. We talk about that sense of scarcity. You try to get it all squeezed into one conversation. My advice to people it's not one of my topics you know on during job interviews is that conversation. The only thing you want to do during that one conversation is to get to the next one.
Speaker 1:That's it, yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, and if you're trying to seal the deal on that one time, that's not how it happens, and I think we all behave as if there's going to be some moment where the person on the other side goes Holy Mary, mother of God, you're it, you're hired, see you at eight o'clock tomorrow. Don't take that job if that happens. But that just isn't how it works. It's a process and you need to learn how to play the process.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and to that point too, know when you're at the end, know when you're at the last conversation, so that you can really leverage what's important to you and be really clear about what is important to you. What are your floor and ceilings? So, all right, let's get into the tips before we geek out too much.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, no. I think you were tied right into that first tip, which is you know you have to know what is possible, right? And so it's really important that when you go into a conversation, that it is not a single. There's not a single number or a single thing that you should be negotiating on. And so often when a job is being presented, they're presenting it with salary, and that is because we know we're money driven. But when there are lots of industries where salaries are capped and everything comes in bonus, maybe that job has no flexibility in those numbers. But you still want to negotiate Things like remote work, things like vacation time, things like sign-on bonuses. There are so many different things that can be part of this conversation. I think that you need to really appreciate how many levers there really are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just had a friend last week. She was going for a C-level position and they gave her an offer verbally and then she was like, oh, I think I agreed to it. But then she got more information and was like oh, with this bonus, she thought she had taken this perspective of oh my gosh, I've now lost all my leverage, where, once she understood that there were other components that made her whole, she was like oh my gosh, I'm right in line and I still have some room to ask for more.
Speaker 2:Totally, totally. You know Chris Voss wrote a great book called Never Split the Difference, which I know that you've talked about in your sessions, and I think what we talk about in these negotiations for a job is that you are kind of splitting the difference, but you know there is a win-win opportunity and that's what Chris's book talks about where you know if you don't split the difference, you both get what you want, and if you have a mindset that there are other lovers, you can be a lot more successful.
Speaker 1:Right and even taking. You know, when I went to Harvard, they one thing they said is considering the interests of the other person, the other party, before you go in, shift your mindset just a little bit to help you ask the right questions and get to the right end. So understanding that it is there's, there's a benefit to both sides. It's not just your game. You can increase your confidence actually.
Speaker 2:Well, you start to realize that you are part of the equation here. And they are not giving, you are giving, and so it is again never split the difference, Make it a win-win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure, all right. So what's your second tip?
Speaker 2:Well, the second one is so important, and I think it's. You have to understand the industry norms, because there are industries where the salary is really set and non-negotiable. There are. There are industries where the bonus is standard and non-negotiable, and then that's where you get to have the conversations about other things. I I, I was interviewing for a role, um and um, at several of my previous companies. Um, I negotiated to have a professional coach my executive coach, be covered by the firm.
Speaker 2:I've never had any pushback from that, but that particular company used executive coaches exclusively as punitive, and so to negotiate that into my contract implied that I needed executive support and coaching right out of the chute, and so it was so interesting to realize that, as I talked to them, it actually would have handicapped me as a new leader at that company. Now, then I negotiated that in a different way. I went with dollars versus that particular item, but it was interesting that that particular company had a norm that was different than perhaps I'd expected. So you have to understand the ecosystem, you have to go in with being flexible and being prepared to ask a lot of questions.
Speaker 2:Or can give you some insights, be very exploratory and find ways to get some intel so that you have some of that context. Yeah, I always like to ask you know what have been the showstoppers for other candidates when it came to negotiating the deal? You know, because it is when a lot of the firms that I work with and people I work with are bringing in people from other industries. They like to bring in that square peg to the round hole. They want somebody with a different perspective and that's when the new types of needs and asks are expected. You know they're very popular on the West Coast right now to have a personal assistant part of the company package.
Speaker 2:That personal assistant helps manage your life and you couldn't get that paid for from an East Coast company. They'd laugh you out the door. But to be able to be aware of that and understand that you can have that conversation and that it's a part of the ecosystem is really powerful.
Speaker 1:I think a technique in real time that you can do too is if you ask somebody a question that surprises them them that it was unexpected, that's not normal they're more likely to just answer it. So if you say what are some of the other benefits that other people at my level, some of the colleagues appreciate or get, then a lot of times they'll just tell you some things if they're not expecting it.
Speaker 2:Or what are the weird things that people have negotiated for? Well?
Speaker 2:we do have an executive who gets his car washed every week. Cool, I want that too. It's about building the rapport and then I think it's a really. The third one is so key and it ties well into that is you've got to negotiate with, with with class and and professionally, um, you know, I don't think there's anybody who's going to win the negotiation by being, you know, rude, being unprofessional, being catty, being condescending, um and and if you are negotiating with HR, treat them with respect. They may not be your peer, but at the end of the day, they do have some strings to pull. And you know, I do like the idea of having a third party negotiate for you. We know people who do that. That takes you away from the equation and you don't have any long-term issues with the negotiating. But at the end of the day, even if you do it, or if you have a third party, do it. That being professional is just so key.
Speaker 1:So important. It's so important and they'll talk about that that experience of working with you it does on both ways. On both ways If you don't ask for what they believe is important to doing your job well, they also want to know that too.
Speaker 2:So, being really thoughtful about the relationship all the way, I will say that that To give you some perspective on how I think this works, more often than not is in situations where I have held my position and negotiated something that was out of the ordinary and I'm not talking like flying cars or daily massages, it was just something that was unique. Once I got the job and had a conversation with my now either hiring manager or somebody in the my peer ecosystem who was aware of the negotiation, every one of them was jealous that I did that.
Speaker 2:Every one of them was like I wish I had thought of that. That was good Smart.
Speaker 1:Now I can at least go back and do that.
Speaker 2:Nobody's ever said you're a jerk for for negotiating that do that. Nobody's ever said you're a jerk for for negotiating that 99% of the time it is. It is um, professional, um, you know, perspective of like wow, I didn't know I could do that either. You taught me something, um, and that's that. That. That's the kind of outcome you want. You want them to respect you for holding your position, respect you for for asking for what you need, but not having done it in such a way that you already got one strike against you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's so good, that's so good to think of it that way. All right, give us the three again.
Speaker 2:Okay, the first one. Actually, I'm going to do them in a different order because I do think that they're better in this order, which is you know. Know your industry norms. Do the research. Understand what's possible. Understand that this industry does it differently. You know, if you're like a software guy, moving from, you know, maybe aerospace into medical, know that there are certain differences and then maybe bonuses are not the same. Know your industry norms.
Speaker 2:Second one you know, once you start doing that, shift your mindset. Understand now you have different chips on the table. You can there are different things you can negotiate. Be aware that maybe the salary is not where you want it to be, but other things are. So know your industry norms. Shift your mindset to be aware of what's possible. And then always be professional. Make sure you go into those negotiations knowing that these people are all trying to do a job just like everyone else and that these are part of the company you'll work with. And if you burn bridges now, it's just that much harder to really execute and be successful at your new role.
Speaker 1:Yeah, such a good topic, such an important topic, as you know, close to my heart, because Chris Voss and I are like buddies. Thanks so much, james. Good one, what is your favorite way to pick a new restaurant?
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, that's a really great question. You know, I'm very good at picking restaurants and I have friends that call me and ask me about restaurants. I don't go out as much as I'd like to, but I am very good at picking restaurants and when we go to different cities I'm able to find very good restaurants. And what I like to do actually is I like to use the online tools like Yelp and Google, and there are things I don't like to. I don't bother too much about what they say, or you know, I appreciate their algorithms and it's all you know, revenue driven, but there are.
Speaker 2:There are certain things that I like to see when I look for a restaurant, and a lot of it has to do with how the plates are set and a lot to do with the way that the lighting is in the restaurant, and so if I can get a glimpse into that and the way that food is served, it gives me a lot of insight into the restaurant. So it's that aesthetic, I think, means so much. Like for a breakfast place, the type of plate that they serve the breakfast in tells you everything you need to know.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Quick Take, where we talk about the questions that are on the mind of executives everywhere. Connect with us and share what's on the mind of executives everywhere.
Speaker 2:Connect with us and share what's on your mind. You can find us on LinkedIn, youtube or whatever nerdy place on the internet. You find your podcasts. Our links to the show are in the show notes. We appreciate you.
