Welcome back to another episode of the corporate Cowboys podcast my name is Alex your host as always today I’m joined by another host Alex also what’s up Alex a little Proof of Life today is Sunday March 12 2023 and if you hadn’t already known this podcast is for professional development purposes
It serves as a form of cathartic therapy and my co-host is aware of that so because it’s somewhat after hours a lot of these questions that we get we just treat them as a time to talk corporate the Talk Shop right sir today’s question is no different it
Comes from our slash career advice and they’re asking or they’re saying they’re claiming management keeps delaying my promotion but is still expecting me to do the extra work without any pay increase or title change how do I approach them to get it done you know this type of question these
Type of questions are my favorite because when they ask for approaches this is the world of possibilities they could be professional they could be legitimate they could be extra legal because there’s a whole lot of whole lot of canvas to work with and paint on it
Could be could be horseshit it could be too that’s right they could just be whiny little [ __ ] that yeah who don’t want to pull their weight and still want a promotion at the end of the day right it could be self reflection manager this one is a
Little long so I’ll go ahead and start reading I don’t want to waste any time because these 30-minute consults that you The Listener have walked into are free this is money [ __ ] this is a community service right and we do this to your benefit but also
To ours too because it allows us to exercise what we know about corporate given our experience given what we’ve done and what we’ve seen so a little background I’m going to start now they claim they write background right I’ve been with the company for three years
And Alex don’t be afraid to uh to ad-lib or comment as we go along we’ll do we’ll do we’ll do sir I’ve been with the company for three years a couple Advanced positions became available within my department in recent months I interviewed a few months ago and I was
Passed up for a promotion for an outside candidate with higher education from a bigger School tough this candidate ended up declining at the last minute but their decision remained the same with me see you know that’s why a better education isn’t always better when it comes to hiring employees man
Like sometimes you want more than a big resume sometimes you want a little [ __ ] loyalty that’s right and if you already have some in-house right you have this person our our hypothetical client in this case who’s already been with the company they just don’t have the educational record
In some dependency you know like you know how to you don’t have a big degree in a resume you know um you’re more likely to stay with the same firmness giving you more opportunities man good employers man and the company turns around offers it to uh an outsider
Who has better educational chops on paper no loyalty and no [ __ ] loyalty they get given an offer and they decline it D minus for the employer and they still don’t promote our hypothetical client D minus but go on go on sorry continuing yeah so their decision remained the same with me
Meaning they wanted to keep you in the same position not paying [ __ ] [ __ ] if I was your boss I’d do the same right if we’re talking corporate if we’re talking cut throatness you know boss is doing their job by keeping you in a position where they want you he’s a
Smart man manipulating and dumb employee he’s a manager managing people he’s managing your ass so coincidentally they continue I was denied the promotion right before bonuses statements were due I’m sure it was just a coincidence it’s a coincidence and it says here in parentheses for tenured employees I
Don’t know if they’re I don’t know if they’re putting out this qualification because they’re not tenured or because these bonuses came around and they they felt disrespected somehow employers were sending me tenured and it says which would have qualified me for a higher multiplier so leads us to believe that
They’re not actually tenured they’ve just been with the company for a minute but they didn’t I guess put in enough work to become tenured for that higher multiplier although my interview was not strong the director decided to put me on the developmental plan that would be Revisited at the beginning of November so
Sounds like they put you on track to becoming a manager to uh on track to getting a promotion yeah we call that in the corporate world just a developmental plan fluffy [ __ ] fluffy [ __ ] it’s true [ __ ] it’s true it’s nice that they record these steps in your professional development but then at the
End of the day the one who ought to be tracking their professional development is you yeah why would you leave it to somebody else an outsider who is not you to tell you just how professional you really are I mean it could be good you know you never know it depends on the
Employer I guess right it’s good to have a plan on paper but it is exactly it’s good to have on paper it’s good it’s gonna have like um not just on paper because anybody can put like fluffy [ __ ] on paper you know what I mean but right I have some [ __ ] substance
To it you know what I mean exactly some [ __ ] enforcement like let it come with like a like a like a [ __ ] reevaluation and a clause or some [ __ ] you know what I mean so this paper has to count this paper has to be worth something like if you’re gonna if you’re
Gonna put more work on yourself right like you’re you you’re they’re saying we’re gonna we’re gonna do you a favor and put you on the development track right but we want you in exchange to do more work so that you can learn how to do the job which is fine I get that
If you’re assessing you for a promotion but you’re you’re equivalating this this this development plan in terms of value to me what value does it have to be other than you telling me that it’s a development plan exactly you know a development plan hack means that there is not just a for
Like a a small chance of development it means that there’s a high probability of development unless I suck ass because yeah exactly it’s a it’s a plan meant to track a milestone and the Milestone we would hope the objective we would hope is them getting promoted so you want
Some you want some enforceability if if the qualifications are met you know what I mean and if it’s just like and that’s what he says and and the employer is really careful about this man he says we’re to say um at the developmental plan would be Revisited at
The beginning of November exactly he uses the word Revisited right so it’s something they’re gonna come back to and track whether or not they have been getting better or learning what they’re getting trained in revisit is such [ __ ] I hate that word Revisited this will be Revisited what does that even
Mean bro tracking whether or not they’re going to go to Ocean material next week like what the [ __ ] does that mean for me bro like am I gonna get two dollar raise am I gonna get a five dollar raise like with the [ __ ] does revisit mean ultimately I I I hope
That’s the hypothetical client is is tracking alongside with this developmental plan what it is they’re learning what they’re pulling from it because if this developmental plan falls through they don’t get the promotion at least they can walk away because we’re thinking they ought to start applying outside but they can walk away with
Something they’ve learned but it also like you’re you’re you’re giving a reason in the legal field we call it consideration right like the employer is giving consideration uh which is payment for you doing extra work yeah so if it falls through and the development plan falls through whether
It’s on you or whether it’s on the employer then now there’s a disagreement that I will no longer be doing this extra work I’m going to be doing my job and my job only exactly right that I’m supposed to do instead of now your dumb ass is stuck
In a position to where where you’re doing more because it you got trained to do more and and now yeah you’re just stuck in the holes and they love you in the circle they love you in this hole because why would they promote you if
They train you to do it they don’t have to pay you a [ __ ] dime all they got to do is ignore you for a long time but you know all right continuing yeah he says I have completed everything on the development plan oh sorry they already
Been through it okay and Rose to the occasion he’s good for you he’s a good faith dealer good for you good faith you my direct manager and other co-workers are pleased with my performance and all you read that I am deserving of the promotion that’s cute that’s cute that’s
Cute they all agreed you deserve it dog yeah you deserve that extra dollar [Laughter] I am sensing sorry I mean if this is my client I would be nicer about it but no of course but this is a hypothetical client they walked into our office yeah
Not having paid anything and for you the listener this is free [ __ ] my boy exactly exactly right if they were our client we would take it upon ourselves to represent them in some capacity or motivate them Inspire them in some capacity to advocate for themselves like stop
Being such a a [ __ ] dude man like just let people dupe you all day all day he’s getting walked on for sure come on and it’s not even like you know you got to be careful sometimes with flattery right and your niceness and kindness is it like managers
Especially because I’ve been a manager I’ve been a supervisor like there’s employees I [ __ ] hate but I’m super nice to him because they work harder right you know what I mean like your job as a manager isn’t just a isn’t just to supervise people and make sure they’re doing their job it’s to
Manage them into putting out the most effort possible while paying them the least amount as possible that is a common theme in corporate and this podcast really is that as long as you remain professional you don’t have to be friends you just have to get the work done no but if
You’re smart you’ll be professional while thinking while making them think that you’re friends exactly but that’s a higher level of thinking a higher level of strategy yeah but [ __ ] pay for it but as this is a free console I yeah but as an employee you got to
Understand one thing you just have to be careful for is are you being flattered or does this person very few employees conceived into smoke exactly don’t think that this employer really cares about you right and so you’re taking it personal and then you’re thinking that they’re taking it personal and whether
That’s good or bad no they don’t [ __ ] care about you speaking of taking it personal they continue they write I have the qualifications decade plus of experience and I have been managing the day-to-day operations single-handedly for the last several months you’re a perfect sucker you’re a perfect
Sucker I love it I will okay can he come work for me bro Doug I mean come work for me you would ask them kindly to reach out to us we’ll bring them on for an extra dollar a dollar more than what you’re making [ __ ] out all the fluffy
[ __ ] you need to work hard for 12 [ __ ] years my boy yo whoever is this person’s manager is an absolute G having kept them on the hook for so long he’s got the fattest bladder I’ve ever heard like he’s just so much fluffy [ __ ] for 12 years
[ __ ] gets his Fiverr my boy oh [ __ ] uh continuing here November November has came and went and I keep being told that it will be set up next week it I imagine being the meeting right in November because that was when they were going to set up or follow up on revisit Focus
Developmental plan okay it says I keep being told it will be set up next week and then next week so they’re they’re just stringing them along all right I want to trust my boss because he recommended me for the promotion in the first place my boss claims that your
Boss told you that my boss your boss [Laughter] hey don’t worry kid I reckon I went to the bathroom you know who can verify that but if you got no receipts exactly if you got no receipts come on bro it says I want to trust my boss because he
Recommended me for the promotion in the first place my boss claims it’s all on the director’s plate the director is a tough and strict character dog you should be and I’m speaking to the hypothetical client you should be tough and strict with your [ __ ] professional reputation because right
Now you’re getting dragged and [ __ ] hard like it’s not even a joke I mean like and that’s just like a classic like I think people clients should be aware wrote it like of the power Dynamic not just the power Dynamic but it’s a classic approach for managers is to
Deflect responsibility there you go it’s a higher or unattainable folks like you don’t want to go see and talk to the to the director because that’s the director right so you’re gonna be like you know like in order to respect the chain of command exactly you’re gonna go to your
Manager and your manager is going to feed you yeah so you just yeah I used to do that with customer service all the time like sorry man I’m just uh I’m just a taco flipper man exactly exactly deflection and that’s that’s what corporations are really good at is they’re good at deflecting
Responsibility for people who aren’t assertive enough and what we as corporate Cowboys trying to cultivate other corporate Cowboys want you to do is to stop deflecting either you take responsibility you are accountable for your own professional development you’re going to leave your professional your promotion in the hands of somebody else
Who could on a whim say no who could on a whim try and shoot an offer out to somebody who has better educational degree from a more prestigious school yeah and they decline it they deny it I mean you know um at least at least learn how to like you don’t have to
You know totally get like prevent which I’m glad um sorry I just lost my changes prevent uh them from bringing somebody else on oh we were just so I mean it’s not about sabotaging whoever it is that they’re shooting offers to but you obviously want to become the most qualified candidate
And make them an offer they can’t refuse by becoming that much more valuable and and I think a big piece of that is going to be recognizing your value and marketing it and I’m sure it’s gonna be it’s gonna be marketing it outside and what it sounds from the post they do
Recognize their their their their their talents or their efforts or their value right that’s why they’re trying to get this promotion that’s why they think they deserve it uh which I think rightfully so we should normally value but how do you deal with like people deflecting you you know what I mean like
You can’t prevent it all the time right but there are ways to combat it you know what I mean I think until we know more and I always give this disclaimer right because oh yeah the hypothetical client can only give us so much context and
This is a lot of body on this question right yeah but the hypothetical client can only give us so much context where and I say this often every episode if we had the client in front of us we could go and interview them further ask follow-up questions get even more
Information in order to give them better informed approach a better informed strategy on how to move next well we might be able to get some more insight because there are quite a few more notes here all right continuing then it says my direct oh hold on it says uh
So the director is a tough and strict character okay right on the other hand on the other hand I do have my concerns and doubts based on the past experiences of former colleagues in similar situations dog you have okay so you’ve been you’re privy to a history of [ __ ] and you
Trust this company still like Kudos bro you are [ __ ] a blind faith having ass [ __ ] good job my boy one frustrating aspect continuing one frustrating aspect is that a former manager who quit our company and then in parentheses which led to such openings recently returned to his slash her
Previous role they don’t know what their gender is his last shirt previous role under the same director so they had previously let somebody go and then they brought that person back all right all right he had to reapply and interview just like any candidate the process was expedited for that individual meanwhile
I am still waiting well it’s apparent that they have preferences yes continuing and I’ll tell you why later I’ll tell you why later now now continuing that’s this certain individual has returned I feel like chopped liver odds too bad bro I feel like my boss even avoids I feel
Like my boss even avoids the conversation with me by taking a detour around my office he skips the water I have inquired I have inquired about this promotion every one and a half to two weeks on average dog no I mean there’s there’s a lot to say and and how
Severely they’re fumbling the bag but I’ll finish this paragraph it says just for a status update without having a full discussion so there’s there’s still hammering on the fact that they want to have this sit down this meeting which they’ve already had and they’ve already blatantly said to his face it’s
Apparent that they’re going to just track track his progress and this progress might not leave them anywhere might not even leave them to a promotion no if it’s not on the table if they are not actively negotiating a promotion this promotion is it getting negotiated that I mean that’s
Oversimplifying it but I think it’s the most obvious and you know it’s bad when they’re delaying the revisit like you’re not even getting to the revisit exactly which goes which should be I didn’t even know what the [ __ ] a revisit was they’re not even giving you that they’re not
Giving you the follow-up they’re not tracking any of your metrics apparently otherwise they would have sat you down told you how you’re [ __ ] up or told you how you’re what you’re doing right and moved ahead with the next step in your promotion but they’re not even
Doing that like they didn’t did see Ned did it right I have inquired about this promotion every one and a half to two weeks on average just for a status update without having a full discussion fortunately they say they claim fortunately the positions is still open okay all right well
The next paragraph here says I had another job opportunity a couple months ago a similar role to that of the promotion however I did not follow through because a I asked for significantly more money than the salary range and B I was holding out for a current for the current promotion to go
Through in addition to a bonus disbursement so that I mean there’s a lot of moving Parts there but yeah essentially they had an offer come to them and they declined it in order to try and secure this promotion at the place they’re at now which I suppose I
Could respect right but if they already know they’re getting yanked and jerked around why even wait and we’ll get to that because because that’s a that was a crucial moment you [ __ ] up I hate the sound you really [ __ ] up that part up I hate to sound like a
Broken record to my boss I mean they already are but I’m on the verge of giving them some sort of ultimatum or demand and then in parentheses they claim in a professional manner they they should have been given this [ __ ] an ultimatum that’s what I’m saying bro
I have been taking on these Advanced duties above my pay grade for the last several months as weeks go by the more unmotivated I become my team isn’t quite up to speed so I am still fulfilling these duties not to mention a bigger workload and more stress
That that to me is the topper but I’ll continue because we still got a couple paragraphs the director did some person did take some personal time off for valid reasons last month and I was considerate of that although my promotion is not guaranteed I have been verbally told repeatedly in
The last couple months that the meeting would take place during a certain week then the next week then the following week etc etc the longer I wait for the promotion oh my goodness the longer I wait for the promotion opportunity the more money I have missed out I just don’t feel like it’s
Important to my director therefore I even question my own importance man this this is a this has got to be a road like this person is so deep in the [ __ ] box right they’re not thinking they’re not even thinking outside of it they’re just trying to think of like how to
Survive how to get a promotion inside of the box right in the Anne Frank diary entry bro [ __ ] depressing as [ __ ] the longer I wait for the promotion oh no I already read that I acknowledge I acknowledge the director’s busy schedule I just feel like my situation is on the
Back burner and you should reasonably because as your manager your situation would be on the back burner when you could just go to Reddit and [ __ ] vent about it yeah yeah the holidays are coming up and that may delay things even further I love my job and I’d love to
Stay here I just feel like I have to break through a glass type ceiling to get this promotion I mean are you a female are you black are you are you are you under represented I think so I am not referring to race actually actually no I am not referring to race although
As a side note all my counterparts are Caucasian and I am not okay okay that tells me that tells me they just don’t respect you as a person much less a professional right because if they give you your word if they give you their word professionally that they’re they’re putting this our
Hypothetical clients they’re putting them through a development program developmental program right yeah to me word is bond especially professionally right yeah if this person our hypothetical client have kept the receipts and follow up with them via email then we know for sure that we have something to go on that they’ve
Been constantly this is Corporate corporate has constantly been missing their own missing on their own promises following up with them and checking in and revisiting it’s true this promotional pathway that’s true but all this person has to go on now is just verbal promises and maybe some racism
Yeah he [ __ ] up by not having by not keeping receipts yeah you got to keep your seats you gotta keep your seats continuing because that’s all that matters is the end of the day you know I mean right or wrong nobody gives a [ __ ] yeah I mean the fact
That they’re alluding to race right now leads me to believe that maybe they have a claim but if they have no receipts they don’t have [ __ ] but if they but and you’re right if so if it’s if it’s different and they have emails where you know they have valuations where they’re
Like you know oh you’re doing good this week oh you’re doing great this week hey you’ve been you met all your [ __ ] oh have I met all my [ __ ] am I good to go exactly you’re doing great exactly uh and then you want that communication to
Be constant and then hey it’s been that it’s been that that’s that that time period that six month Mark are we gonna meet instead of having those those those awkward conversations with them in person you have those awkward conversations with them on on the email I mean personally it’s and then she gets
Done yeah it it can be I mean as as ironic as it might sound it can be more empowering to have the awkward conversations via email because the parties and the counterparties have time to think about a response right you don’t have to hold these conversations
Alive and in person would you have time to think about it and even be more professional I mean the goal ultimately of a corporate Cowboy is to attain the state of being of consummate professional oh of course of course I mean and if and if the corporation isn’t even giving you that
Then you know the type of people you’re dealing with yeah exactly I mean like you know any anytime you just gotta anytime employees put things on email in a confrontational way any any sort of confrontational way they’re going to be very careful very very uh meticulous
About how they respond and there is a way to do it professionally where you still address those conflict points like you’re saying exactly and then the oral and get the arguments of fluffy [ __ ] because they can’t be proven in court that’s right you know what I mean you
Don’t have a business record of anything that’s true which is why I think the hypothetical client in this case is is only alluding to it because if they had receipts I think they’d bring it up they’d be like oh I got emails of them saying we’re not going to have a sit
Down or we’re gonna postpone it another month right but the fact that they don’t even have that I think they they dropped the ball at the very beginning if they were professional from the very beginning when this developmental plan discussion was had yeah and they followed up via
Email hey to uh to their manager hey I’m just following up via email that we’re going to begin this developmental plan perfect that leads to my promotion right I mean they could easily rope that in exactly as a Corp as a corporate cowboy no pun intended they can rope it in
Exactly because I mean and that’s really what you want to do as an employee anytime you’re bargaining for something you always want to have a written record of it so even if it was like a verbal conversation a very important way that you’ve talked about integrating that
Into like you just want to find a way to put it into the pub and into the business record put it into words have it right into the business that’s right that’s right and and and so the way you do that like he said is just ah just
Following up from our meeting great meeting you know uh I’m really excited to be on this program um I know that you said you know you do these things these things and these things for me as long as I did this this this and this exactly it’s time to get
Started thank you again for your time today which to some of our clients might sound like Overkill might sound redundant but you have to understand this isn’t the street where you just work on a handshake and word is bond type deal no no this this is Corporate
We’re dealing with and they do things on paper so even if like if it’s not on paper it didn’t happen exactly so you might have a developmental plan but if nobody ever followed up with it that paper is worth nothing our clients our hypothetical clients because that’s a disclaimer is that
Everything we put out on the podcast or in our content none of it should be taken as legal advice unless you’ve retained us right yeah but if our hypothetical client never even followed up on their professional developmental plan in writing it isn’t worth [ __ ] because it shows that you weren’t interested in it
And what have you got to go on other than some verbal discussions yeah but see and then when you when you when you do what you did what you were talking about and put it onto the business record now they either are in a situation where
If they’re in the in the in the judge’s face they’re like okay well [ __ ] did did I respond to that email did I say yeah thanks or yeah cool did I confirm that email was was what we talked about you know what I’m saying
And we find we find that a lot of our clients a lot of our clients still are in this entry-level mindset of an entry-level employee where they’re not thinking like managers I mean we’ve been in management positions before and if an email comes across our desk that might
Legally incriminate us or implicate us somehow we will be addressing it right and that’s just you the hypothetical client starting the professional game you you are you are playing the game and I’ve this has been an overarching theme of the entire podcast and Alex has been here since the beginning essentially
That you were born in a corporate War and the sooner you realize you’re fighting for something you have to then learn what exactly it is you’re fighting for yeah yeah because I mean like if if you do do all that [ __ ] right and you send that email what’s gonna happen in
The backdrop of that so what you’re not going to see as the employee right the employer is going to look at that and be like okay red flag uh how should I respond to this email because I I might be making a promise here uh it might be
A legally binding promise uh am I gonna have to talk to my legal department let me talk to my supervisors see how I should respond exactly you know they’re going to talk to all these different people and then they’re going to make their response right but here’s the thing is if they can
Either respond two ways either they’re gonna say yes uh in fact that was a good meeting and that’s exactly what happened and then they’re going to be bound into this agreement that you guys had orally because it’s on the business record now right or they’re going to look at it and
Be like hey I think we need to revisit this conversation so that’s not exactly uh what I would characterize as our agreement right but that and and so then you get clarification right and so then you’re like okay so you’re really just bullshitting me so now I don’t have to spend six months
Doing extra work exactly and getting no extra pay for it and I’ve mentioned before what you do professionally informs who you are personally right I’ve said time and time again that the professional bleeds into the personal yeah and then who you are as a person ultimately is also who you are
Professionally yeah so you have to be on top of your game when you’re trying to better yourself when you’re trying to improve and innovate when trying to hone your skills if you’ve already been trained in this I guess promotion if you’ve already been trained on those duties and you haven’t gotten paid for
It then you should know where you stand you’re not valued by the corporation they’re going to keep you in that position because they’ve already trained you and if you didn’t go out of your way to negotiate it I mean it’s not going to fall on them to try and negotiate
They’re just they’re just gonna string you along yeah I mean you’re you’re like you’re like the the geeky kid who gets gas lit by the by the cool ones just to be around to laugh at you know what I’m saying and do their [ __ ] homework it
Takes me back you know you become the crash dummy like you become you’re just you’re just you’re just the guy that they’re we’re laughing at after we take your work and you turn it in you know what I’m saying like don’t say we bro don’t think we we were never we
Were never bullies in jobs I mean we were not we were just we were I was cool as [ __ ] bro we came through you know what I mean though you became Cutthroat because we were trained to be Cutthroat but such is life but at the end of the
Day like if if that’s me as management I’m not gonna I’m not gonna hate you because you stood up for yourself and you said hey this is what I bargained for oh wait no it’s not exactly okay cool then I’m I don’t think I want to go
Through with this planet a manager who cares a manager who cares and wants to lead a team is actually going to respect you exactly exactly so when when you meet somebody who has your best not just your best interest but who will help you go further in life
He’ll respect you for being honest up front and um you don’t have to be like super likable you just have to be a professional exactly right you just have to smile have a good tone have a genuine Tone and say the truth which is all to say that this hypothetical client’s manager might
Have been a good leader and they could have fallen on the director but the fact we don’t have any receipts for it the fact the hypothetical client has no receipts for it we don’t know so because we can’t ask this follow-up question which if we had them in front of us we
Would yeah we can’t necessarily tell our audience so I mean what does he what does he do now what does he do now Alex so continuing he says I have grown frustrated nice okay however it says it does not reflect in my performance so okay so in that respect he’s professional right
Like internally he’s frustrated how the [ __ ] do I get ahead but it hasn’t impacted his productivity and that’s that’s what he has good going for him is it like you no matter how frustrated you get you you always want to maintain composure because even if you finally
Realize that you’re the punk [ __ ] who does the homework and they just bully you and laugh at you he doesn’t mean that you lash out and you make things worse for yourself it just means internally you understand that they’re not on your side and you have to make
Every decision in your own best interest that’s right very calculative very calm very professional and in your best interests agreed so like your first instinct may be to be like they’re just [ __ ] playing me [ __ ] these fools they’ve been stringing me along right I quit but you don’t want to absolutely
Ruin your reputation on the way out don’t ruin your reputation [ __ ] it keep getting money out these [ __ ] man yeah but now you’re working on getting as much money as possible without doing his least amount of work as possible while you’re applying to outside firms exactly given what you
Know now given what you’ve been trained in you have that knowledge to leverage exactly so if you’re not gonna if you’re not gonna be in a place that values you or want you to move upward and you feel stuck you obviously know you have to go somewhere else perfectly
Said in the meantime in the meantime you get that [ __ ] for every penny you could get it for even if it’s to the letter even if it’s just to the letter don’t don’t do anything because if the promotion isn’t coming to you don’t emotionally quit there you go that’s it
Don’t emotionally quit you want to have a uh a spot to land in yes you just don’t want to I mean you don’t want to just jump ship without and he says in here that he has other income I don’t know if we read that far let’s see here it says I’ve grown
Frustrated and I’m unsure about how to approach management at this point not to mention how they treated me versus the ex manager who returned yeah I don’t want my approach to be too personal either okay so they’re cognizant of the emotional Factor too yeah I am just running out of patience
And I feel like they are stringing me along to maintain coverage I mean [ __ ] we talked about them stringing you along yeah I have not directly asked my director about the promotion however I feel like I should even if it means bypassing my manager I don’t know how I feel about that but
It says continuing I could attempt to discuss with my manager the other career opportunities that I have come across although I don’t have an official offer in hand if you don’t have an offer in hand I mean I wouldn’t bring up the fact that you have other opportunities because
You’re going to sound Petty I mean you’ve already been in that uh position and you’ve been taking it for several months now you’ve been working at this capacity uh not being compensated your worth for a couple months so who’s to say they’re going to respect you on the way out if you have
No offer to fall on yeah I mean at this point we’ll keep reading it reading this paragraph and then we’ll talk so uh however I feel like I should even if it means bypassing my manager I could attempt to discuss with my manager the other career opportunities this might be a passive aggressive
Approach as well if I do approach any management and I don’t get a straight answer or a firm date should I refuse to do the advanced work dog why the [ __ ] are you doing the advanced work now like all right I mean because he agreed to do it he said he would do
It for nothing you don’t remember that conversation no consideration all right let’s let’s get through this question real quick it says whatever ulterior motives upper management may have what’s the best way to go about this my goal is to not refuse the work but to get the meeting scheduled and
Land this promotion soon why why is your goal not to refuse the work okay all right so go ahead so go ahead I wouldn’t mind going over the manager I know you said you wouldn’t like it I mean but I wouldn’t mind it because you you all right first this is assuming that
You’ve emailed your manager there you go I was gonna say several times if at this stage it means that the manager has just stopped going to bat for you then yeah I’ll go to the direction so so I all those times that you you’ve gone up to your manager it should have been
Through email not in person agreed if it was through emails and good for you good job uh make sure you’re doing it professional make sure you you came out all the pleasantries and all the always hoopty do’s and sincerelys and best regards and whatnot always um and
At that point then yeah you can you can go up to here’s what I like to do I like to CC there you go um so I don’t I don’t so the best part about I love CC’s because then you can just send another email to your supervisor
Just regular like hey just following up on this this this and this exactly said we’re gonna have this this and this we talked about this this and this and then you wait for a response but then you put the supervisors supervisors email on the CC and then he’s just like
The supervisor doesn’t have the super the supervisor supervisor director right doesn’t have to respond but but they know it’s active they know they’re watching exactly they know it’s active that they know something is a foot something is happening and especially when your supervisor keeps saying that
It’s on the director right you know what I’m saying I mean if I think if it gets to a point where push comes to shove you might want to professionally and I do mean professional not personally don’t throw your manager under the bus just because you want to get this promotion
Right but you could professionally throw them under the bus by have by implicating them in whatever they did tell you orally right so if orally they told you oh it’s in the director’s hands it’s out of mind now then you want to tell them that over
Email and really find out if it’s if it’s even in the director’s hands at all yeah because it could just be your manager giving you that fluff [ __ ] we were talking to you about yeah to keep you complacent and chilling in this position doing all these extra duties
And not getting paid all that extra money I mean and and so like if that still doesn’t give you a response right right you you told the director the director is ignoring you too now right and and you’ve already put the fire to the manager and they haven’t done [ __ ]
The managers the supervisor is not doing nothing the director’s not doing nothing right um you’re still not getting a visit then at that point so here’s where it depends on how your organization is structured right yeah like for some people if that job that new development plan came with the job title change
Then you want to see see the manager yeah and just see if you can withdraw if you’re not going to get the meeting by this date then you’d like to withdraw from the development plan right and proceed with your original employment yeah I mean that’s at least going to
Free you up and not have you do all these other extra duties that you volunteered for for some reason and and what you’re and you’re not saying that promote me or um you’re not saying I’m not going to work unless you promote me exactly what
You’re saying is I’m not going to do the extra work unless you at least do the meeting with me right like you’re not even scheduling the meeting with me this isn’t a hard cop like this isn’t a hard ultimatum we’re talking about it’s just a professional yeah formality exactly
Yeah and then once you get in front of them then you can start asking about what you should have been asking for is what are my tangibles for continuing on to this development plan because if not I’m just going to go back to doing what I was doing yeah like I already went
Through and trusted you on revisiting right I’ve met all the benchmarks yeah what more do you need me to do and if there’s nothing more that I can do to move myself up I’m just gonna go back to my original my original employment plan right because at that point when Alex is
Describing here is a simple and you would think almost obvious but a very effective plan in order to remove yourself from the situation but not come off as Petty either yeah and it’s just like you’re being honest about your situation and matter of fact you’re putting you’re putting the ball in their
Court exactly right yeah like you’re telling them if they want to promote you they will promote you this is this is my decision if you don’t meet with me within 30 days right then I want to be put back and then when you do meet with
Them you say look I’ve met all these benchmarks I’ve done all this if there’s nothing that I can do to get this promotion like concrete then I won’t continue then I’m gonna I’m gonna I’m gonna go back exactly and so I mean yeah I guess it is an ultimatum but you’re you’re taking
Those step by step right right you’re not you’re not going all in on the email you’re not being played every time with it yeah you’re going step by step through each process and you’re bargaining one agreement at a time like don’t and don’t be passive aggressive for
Three months and then try to ask for everything yeah right now because because you’ve been doing the work for three months and the management is going to ask you are you why are you bitching now right like if if you compromised on your professionalism for three months
What on God’s green earth is going to cause them to respect your professionalism now this late in the game yeah that’s true so that’s how that’s how I would approach it if if if that makes sense to Alexander so so just finishing this out Alex it’s uh they
They continue my goal is not to refuse the work so for whatever reason they want to continue doing all these extra duties yeah but it says but it’s to get the meeting scheduled and land this promotion soon land this promotion like you think it’s still up in the air these
[ __ ] already decided they’re not going to promote you well maybe maybe okay all right like if maybe I’m I’m being pessimistic but I’m being I’m being cynical reasonably if you put to go through the process I just did right I just said they might be in that room
And then the director might be feeling like well how am I going to refuse them this because right right you’ve expedited this guy you fulfilled all these and I kind of need you and here’s the here’s the last thing I’ll say is if you really want that promotion and you
Really want to land that promotion you have to do these things at opportune times right there are windows of opportunity that you’re missing here kid like the first opportunity is when you get another offer right there you go because now you have something else to fall back on to because you’re like okay
Well I’m already getting an offer here and let me tell you this you don’t have to tell them the truth about what you’re getting paid at the next job that’s right right like you don’t if you’re if you’re getting paid 50 000 a year at this place you’re at now and this other
People offer you 55. or let’s say they offer you 45 right and you go to these the first people and you say I need a promotion because I got this other opportunity all right well what’s your price match well they offer me you don’t have to
Tell me they offer you 45 just say they offer me 65. or they offer but if you go too high I agree but if you go too high here’s the danger if you go too high like what happened to you you could price yourself out you could price yourself out that’s
Right and they’ll be like yeah we can’t even touch that so you’re gonna have to go with the other one and you can’t even go back to them because then you’re you’re just you’ll just look like [ __ ] we live in a time where transparency at least salary transparency in a lot of jurisdictions
Really a lot of uh States we live in a time where transparency goes one way where the job actually has to be transparent about the salary that they’re offering and one as the independent contractor or the employee doesn’t have to be so transparent about what they were getting paid before this
Is a window and we tell clients this yeah this is a window for you to negotiate what you believe you’re worth yeah but it also requires you to be able to back it up yeah and and you got to be smart about it don’t just start throwing
Stupid numbers out there like be honest with yourself like how much are you really worth right you know what I mean right because if you can be honest with yourself and say how much can you bargain for and here’s the other thing too that affects it one is what you got
Going on the outside right like what these other offers you got do you have leverage to be able to hedge a BET right right right but also can you see the vulnerabilities in their in their job right like I would have been doing this [ __ ] when there were three managers down
You know what I mean like they really need people like okay well I’m gonna stop doing this this advanced stuff work when you really need people to be doing it exactly uh because if you volunteer for it sooner or later because of why you’re trying to help out the homie when
They’re in a rough time exactly when they’re not giving you the light of day and if you do it for free I mean and and they might not so they might not be friends you’re looking out for you if you do it for free then who’s to say
They owe you anything when you’ve been doing it they won’t and most of the time they don’t right they use you when they need you and then when they can hire better more qualified they move on and that’s what’s happened here he tied it there you go Alex tied in the outside R3
Right he tied in the outside all three when they were stringing along our hypothetical clients this whole time this whole time you could have been stringing them along you could have been just way inviting your time oh making them need you making them depend on you right and that’s how employees get get
It right is you get going you get in this position and then once you see they’re in a vulnerable position as a company like they their organization will literally take a fall right a hard fall without you without you that’s when you strike that’s when you take that’s moving like
A corporate Cowboy that’s when you take that is really moving like a corporate cowboy and we help clients put themselves in that position right and not this isn’t for everybody you have to be an aspiring professional you have to be ambitious to some extent you have to be committed committed to to improving
Yourself bettering yourself at the right time though and striving to be a constant professional because it could be the wrong time even but if you’re a Content professional I think a corporate Cowboy could save oh yeah yeah the situation that our hypothetical client isn’t you have to be a professional at
All times but the amount of effort and and work you put in and dedication you put in to your job is going to depend on where where you are exactly right like like we said remember if they didn’t take his offer and he’s getting like okay well I guess
I’m just using you to get money out of until I find a new opportunity then he’s actively shooting apps applications out and resumes to other firms and then you’re just being you’re still being a professional but you’re just doing mild work you’re doing you’re doing uh
Average work there you go you know what I mean average output you’re not all the way at the bottom so they can fire you you’re not all the way at the top because you’re not giving them that much uh of your time and effort but you’re you’re at least maintaining your
Represent your reputation as a professional exactly so when you transfer when you lateral out yeah you’re good you’re not losing out yeah I’m not telling anybody to be a [ __ ] you know stay professional stay stay cool-headed that’s right and then put your efforts in when they matter
Damn time’s flown we’ve been at this about an hour no we haven’t yo yeah so let me let me just finish out our hypothetical clients uh body here so they say or I guess the last paragraph is any feedback is appreciated and they say thank you nice and then they edit it
At the at the end here to add some contacts which we could always use that’s nice they say my manager wants me promoted okay they already said that he pushed me to apply before I even mentioned it to him I’d like to believe he is being truthful
And that this is all in the director’s hands as for the delay the director did suffer an immediate family loss last month thus the reason for my patients however it has been three weeks since his slash her return you don’t know the gender of your [ __ ] director in addition in addition
I don’t think I would need them okay so maybe they’re keeping them anonymous because a lot of these folks a lot of our hypothetical clients and clients in real life are higher level Executives which I get if they come from reputable organizations reputable firms they don’t
Want to air out their manager just off off rip right sure that’s true so they say however it’s been three weeks since his slash her return in addition this is the last paragraph I don’t think I would need another offer to leave so they sound desperate they sound
Desperate as [ __ ] at my direct manager knows I have another stream of income I have another gig I can fall back it doesn’t replace my career but it keeps me in the field and there may be opportunity for growth at that company NeXT quarter however nothing is concrete as of now
What do you think Alex I mean I just I just think that uh I still think it’s kind of [ __ ] man I mean I I just don’t I used to do that with people all the time when uh when I was a supervisor I’d be like yo man I’m gonna
I’m gonna try and use the next supervisor this program real quick I’m gonna train you as the next supervisor and you know why because it made my job easier yeah when you know how to do my job and you know how to do my job and all you
All know how to do my job then I ain’t really got to do it that much because then you guys just just work together to do my job exactly and I’ve and I’ve mentioned this story before but I was also a supervisor of sorts and uh I had
A an employee who was a subordinate they were a junior to me and they were really worried about not showing up for work one day just one day right where she had to go visit and it was a it was a female right so she had to go visit some family
Spend time with them and said Alex I don’t know what to do I mean I like I have the time off and they had already agreed to uh to take on like an additional day that they weren’t even on on the schedule for right yeah so they’re just covering ships left and right
And they already have like a ton of a ton of reputation like good good karma going for them right let’s call it they got good credit yeah with us okay and they say Alex I don’t know what to do they they want me to work but I have
To spend time with my family and I told her let’s say her name is Mary Mary as your manager I would kill your entire family and bury them just to have you work another day for me because that’s how much I trusted Mary that’s how much I
Depended on Mary and Mary was Dependable reliable and self-sufficient makes you feel good too exactly if I could get married to work an extra day without having a killer family then I did my job right as a manager yeah [ __ ] dick and and I told her I told
Her straight up [ __ ] leave I mean I wasn’t her manager at the time and I said [ __ ] go enjoy your time with your family if they’re not paying you extra right like if they’re if they’re having her do these extra duties and not paying her extra for it and she wasn’t
Even in a she wasn’t even in a developmental plan at the time but I said if they’re not considering you for anything like if you’re not in your opinion that important here take the time off yeah I mean I know she’s well worth the money yeah I know she was
Very dependable reliable she would necessarily kill for the company right and in return the company would do her the favor of killing for her yeah you see but that’s a double-edged sword yeah there you go yeah okay okay there you go okay all right so we’ve we’ve
Drawn this on in in the future I think we’re gonna I think we’re finding the format to riff back and forth I would like to keep consultations maybe 30 minutes or less so we should hear the whole story first and then comment huh I think so because
Typically what I’ve done in the past is if uh is if they’re shorter bodies then I would comment after every sentence and if they’re longer bodies I would comment after like every paragraph or maybe halfway through but no you’re right I think it’s it’s good to have the facts up front
Especially when they’re like longer in this sense yeah and then we could go back and critique on what information we need additionally from the client from the hypothetical client like like a law school hypothetical exactly exactly a law school exam man you know those bro you know I’m pretty
Sure I remember those I remember those Iraq Iraq well folks if you want to follow us by all means you can find us on Instagram that’s at corporate Cowboys with a z right you know what the profile picture looks like the patreon is up and active
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