What matters most for your professional development?

Negotiating effectively for yourself is key to achieving your goals – be it title, salary, bonus, equity, team resources, plum assignments or leadership opportunities.

The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York, WBASNY, committed to the success and professional development of its lawyer members and non-members alike, is running a 5-part CLE series, “Raising the Bar.”

I was honored to be invited to kick off the series last week on negotiating for ourselves.

Here are some of the takeaways:

1. Manage your confidence. Be thoughtful about what you are saying to yourself about your professional accomplishments. Give yourself credit for your successes – big and small. Mastering skills and acknowledging that growth feeds a strong sense of self.

2. Determine your “value add” before embarking on a negotiation. Use qualitative and quantitative data when describing what you bring to the table. Share what you have accomplished individually, and what you have contributed to the team/organization as a whole.

3. Keep your finger on the pulse of what your peers are getting. Knowing your fair market value will boost your negotiating stance. Ask colleagues outside of your firm to confidentially share their salary/bonus range.

4. Be ready for push back. Your employer/supervisor may not be ready to say yes and may try to shut down the conversation. Stay on task, albeit politely; ask for what you want, and give them time and space to consider the request. You may need to ask a few times before you achieve your goal.

5. Step into the room and make the ask. It is more difficult for your employer to turn you down in person than in an email or on the phone.

Many thanks to Michele Mirman and Linda Chiaverini for making this happen so seamlessly, to Diane Dwyer, Esq. for moderating and adding her experience and wisdom to the mix, and to Marea Wachsman, Esq. for her leadership of WBASNY.

If you are thinking about negotiating for yourself and would like some support or practice making the “ask”, please reach out and contact me.

Gail

“I’m Gail Cummings, a business lawyer turned psychotherapist, coach, and speaker. I help lawyers be productive, develop business, advance their careers, and I work with law firms to develop their talent.”