Life Coaching for Successful Women by Valorie Burton

Author:Valorie Burton
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736980289
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Published: 2019-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

COACH YOURSELF

Who has your favorite personal brand? What is it that stands out most about that person? What is the most important lesson you can glean from their career? How might you apply that lesson in your own career?

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What Simple Change Could Boost Your Pay?

Those who work deserve their pay.

LUKE 10:7 NLT

POINT TO PONDER

Too often, women don’t negotiate for higher salaries. Men do.

Over the course of my career, I have certainly had the occasion to realize I was underpaid for the work I was doing. In fact, the first time I was offered a job out of school, doing sports public relations, the salary they offered was abysmal. I tried to figure out how I could possibly make it on that salary, but the only way I could get by every month on that salary was for my parents to subsidize the company’s pitiful offer. I hadn’t gone all the way through grad school to have my parents paying some of my bills. It didn’t occur to me to tell the company I’d come to work for them if they paid me more money, so I simply turned the job down. I shake my head just thinking about it.

You’ve likely heard the statistic that women earn on average about 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. It is a disturbing trend indeed. Under-earning is the distinct condition of being paid less money for doing exactly the same work that someone else is doing for more money. It is often presented as purely an issue of sexism. But the issue is deeper than that.

One of the rarely discussed reasons for the persistent pay gap between men’s and women’s pay could be the fact that men are much more likely than women to negotiate. In a study of almost 2,500 job seekers by the National Bureau of Economic Research, it was found that when an employer does not explicitly state that wages are negotiable, men are more likely than women to negotiate. So the pay gap between men and women is significantly more pronounced in jobs where wage negotiation is ambiguous.

There are certainly gender disparities that are rooted in institutionalized prejudice and the devaluing of jobs that are traditionally held by women. However, successful women think differently. They don’t just focus on problems beyond their immediate control and see themselves as victims. They ask, “What do I have control over that can positively impact my situation?” You control whether or not you negotiate. You control whether you speak up and ask for more. You control whether you settle for less than you deserve, or have the courage to pursue opportunities that will boost your income. Not asking is a bad habit—one you can change right away.

I’ll never forget the moment a business owner who’d spent years booking speakers told me I could charge double what I was asking. I looked at him, stunned. “You’re already there,” he said. “You just need to ask for more.” The idea of asking for twice what I’d been charging felt both exciting and scary.

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