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Key points
- The secret to getting more of what you want from work is gaining leverage in your working relationships.
- Building a reputation of excellence and reliability takes time, but the payoffs can be huge.
- Not all rewards are material: In order to get more of what you want, identify what matters to you first.
Have you ever looked around the office (or, these days, the Zoom screen) and wondered, “What have they got that I don’t?” Some people just seem to have all the luck when it comes to getting the best assignments, connecting with the right colleagues, or simply being recognized for what they do.
And it stings even more when it’s someone newer to the company or less experienced than you.
Hank, a very self-satisfied research scientist at a major pharmaceutical company, was one such “lucky” individual. He made his own schedule and worked from home most days, well before COVID-19 made hybrid work the norm. He only worked with the technicians he knew and trusted, had his choice of assignments, and pursued training and development opportunities on the company’s dime.
What was his secret for getting such flexible work conditions and generous rewards?
“It’s leverage,” Hank explained. “I have real leverage with my boss because I have a reputation for getting things done, and getting them done well, ahead of schedule.” He continued, “My boss knows he can count on me, and that gives him leverage with his boss when he wants to go to bat for me. He can say, ‘I think we should give Hank what he wants because he is doing great work and is going to continue doing great work.’ Sometimes you have to be patient. It pays off eventually.”
The lesson here is simple: Be valuable! When your boss wants to keep you happy, so you continue doing great work for them, that’s real leverage. Build a reputation for doing great work every day by… doing great work every day. It may sound trite, but if you are patient and let your value accrue, it will eventually pay off.
Sometimes, it is about making shorter-term sacrifices for long-term rewards. Kate, an electrical engineer at a large aeronautics company, was assigned with a small workgroup to solve an engineering design problem in a remote manufacturing center. Once they got there, the design team realized there were obvious flaws throughout the manufacturing process. Two engineers would need to relocate to the remote site for at least a year and work double-time for the foreseeable future.
Kate recalls, “I just blurted out, ‘I’ll do it,’ and it was done. Nobody wanted to fight for that job.” Why did she volunteer? “I could sacrifice a year. By the end of it, I would have earned a bunch of money. But it was more than that,” Kate explains. “I knew it would be an incredible learning and growth experience. I was going to be right in there getting my hands dirty in a working manufacturing process. Here I was at this really key point in my career, working on this really exciting work. It was an incredibly grueling experience. But it was so worth it. The rewards were truly exceptional.”
Like Hank, you can get more leverage and earn more rewards by getting a reputation for doing great work. And like Kate, you can earn truly exceptional rewards by being willing to make calculated short-term sacrifices.
Imagine if you could stop getting paid by some fixed system, locked in the prison of one-size-fits-all sameness. What do you think would happen if you could negotiate with your boss and trade your time, effort, and ideas—your hard work—for some package of rewards?
Here’s the funny thing: It is an imperfect system. Most people are not paid in ways that are directly tied to their performance. Still, over time, that leverage will kick in. Your actual performance will be the key to your reputation, your perceived value, and ultimately your ability to earn the kind of work conditions and career you want to build.
You have to start somewhere.
Of course, not everyone can be a Hank or a Kate, at least not right away. Becoming trapped in an envious comparison loop will pull your focus away from what really matters: you. There’s nothing about either Kate or Hank that makes them intrinsically better employees. Anyone can learn these lessons. So, find empowerment in the strategies, and forget the rest.
Step One: Make sure that in your working relationship with each boss, you understand not only how to meet the basic expectations of the job but how to go above and beyond those expectations—and what rewards might be available if you do. Don’t hesitate to ask, “What’s in it for me?” (Tactfully and respectfully, of course.)
Working relationships are, after all, a quid pro quo: I’ll do this for you if you do this for me. Of course, the rewards reaped from your work are not always material, and often they won’t be. Maybe what you’re gaining is more experience, more opportunities, more collaboration, or more purpose. Identify what rewards matter most to you, and pursue the work that helps you earn them.
Step Two: Through open communication and transparency, build a working relationship of trust and confidence with your boss, so you know exactly what you have to do to earn those rewards, no matter how great or small. Help your boss monitor, measure, and document your performance every step of the way.
If you make a commitment, deliver on that commitment. If you fail to meet a commitment, be honest and forthright about it. Put your boss in a position to let you know whether your work is hitting the target on an ongoing basis. Take the initiative when it comes to having regular, ongoing one-on-ones.
When, inevitably, you may not have achieved the necessary goal to earn a particular reward, accept that fact graciously. Likewise, don’t be too greedy when you do achieve the goal, and it comes time to collect. If your boss can’t deliver on a reward right away, or if a promised reward somehow evaporates, try to be understanding. Write off the loss as a cost of doing business, an investment in the bank account of that working relationship. At least you won’t have to spend time wondering if your performance has been noted and appreciated. Use the appreciation to gather momentum.
When your boss appreciates what you’ve done, consider asking them to write a letter describing your success. Ask them to give you a copy, place a copy in your employee file, and maybe pass a copy up the line to their own boss. That’s a good way to help your manager make you feel rewarded, rather than jilted, in the event what you hoped for falls through.
