Volunteering. At Work? Stop.

You’re a lovely person, I know. 

You’re kind, and empathic, and generous.

I bet you volunteer for stuff too, don’t you?

That’s great, it really is, but can you please make sure that volunteering stays outside of the workplace in future?

I’m not shouting at you. Okay, I am, but I just need you to know that all this volunteering stuff you do… don’t do it at work.

Generally speaking, women are raised/programmed/whatever to care about others and not focus on themselves. Conversely, men are (generally) raised with focus purely on their place in the pecking order. 

These roles transcend into the workplace, where men are keenly aware of the actions they take and how each one will benefit their place in the hierarchy. Women, however, are more focused on the content of the work; considering if they enjoy it and/or find it important or not.

That difference in focus may seem like a detail, but the effect is that this programming means it’s so much easier for men to get promoted in the workplace. If they take on ‘extra’ work, they opt for those projects that are visible and affect the bottom line, and so therefore are more likely recognised and rewarded. Women, on the other hand, may choose projects that are interesting but perhaps longer-game and unlikely to drive revenue, making it difficult to yield reasons to be promoted or rewarded with a raise. Women are also likely to take on projects if they don’t want to do them at all, simply because they have been asked.

Make a point of keeping what I’ve just told you in mind, even if you don’t recognise (or accept) those ‘roles’ as yet. Then, next time someone asks you to get involved in a project that’s above and beyond your role at work, ask yourself, ‘What is the likely benefit of this on my career?’ 

If the answer to that question is negative or neutral, reconsider taking it on (just go ahead and say no). If the answer is positive, then ask yourself for sure if it’s also fun or interesting to you, because it’s all very well working your wings off through the ranks of your career if you bloody hate it as you fly.

I wrote this post because sometimes people think that negotiation only takes place around big tables with people you don’t really know or perhaps don’t even like. As the advice in this post proves, however, sometimes, the best negotiations are with yourself.

Negotiating The WIN Way.

Give me a call and we’ll see what ways I can help you with all aspects of negotiation as you soar through a fabulous career that not only makes you a lot of money, but brings you a lot of joy, too.