Overcoming blockers to share your idea

- When I was moving up as a management consultant, I knew it was time to ask for more money. I was trusted to lead some of our toughest client accounts, but I was underpaid. Focusing like a laser beam on a 10% raise, I made my ask. I got a no but I'll show you how to get a yes. Here's the secret, if you want to increase your chances of success, bring options to the table. Then, you don't gamble everything on one version of success, you create multiple version of success. First, ask yourself what's most important to you. At the top of a document or a piece of paper, list your overall position. What is it you want to improve? Why? For me, it was negotiating job terms that better reflected my value. Now, make two columns, the first is what you want, and the second is how that could look. For me, my first priority was money which could look like base pay or bonuses. But your first priority can be anything. List your priorities, identifying how each could look like I've done. Take your time here to really think through what you want. If you'd like to see mine more clearly, pause the video now and look over this image. Now rank your top three to four priorities by importance. This ranking shows you where you want to remain firm, and what means less to you. For me, it goes base pay, title change, time off, and the leadership conference. Pause this video again and go and rank your priorities. Okay, so using your priorities now, come up with three different combinations where each option looks different. We'll call these Options A, B, and C. These options are graduated from best to worst, each reflecting a mix of your top priorities. As you develop Option A, answer the question, what would be an epic outcome? Don't ask, what would just satisfy me? For me, the best outcome is a 10% raise, a title change and five days of paid time off or PTO. Now, come up with your Option B. Ask, what would be an excellent outcome? In my case, Option B includes a smaller bump up in pay and a lesser title change and one less day off. Then, with Option C ask, what would an extremely good outcome be? For me, Option C increases my pay and time off and it substitutes a title change with a conference. While I like Option A the best, I'd be happy with any of these scenarios. The idea here is to use your options during the negotiation as you face resistance. You only reach for Options B and C if you're getting no. Let's say I've asked for my Option A. I've done my homework, I've shown the evidence for what I'm asking for, I make it really shine. But despite all my good efforts, I get a hard no. Here's the ideal time to reach for Option B, a slightly less preferred option but still a good one. You might introduce Option B by saying, "I'm hearing you can't swing X, would you consider Y?" But what if once you've presented your Option B, you still hear a no? You propose Option C, ah-ha! Now we get our yes. Putting viable options forward helps you overcome what you don't know. The professional development budget may have more funds than the salary one, but we'll never know unless we ask. Go ahead and download the Exercise File if you haven't already. Start building your options so you're ready come negotiation time. Remember, it's easy to make smart decisions when there are no bad options.