Salary Negotiation Readiness

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COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You are going into a salary conversation next week — either a review, an offer, or a renegotiation. The most honest version of how prepared you are right now is:

Not very — you know roughly what you want but you do not have specific data to support it Thoroughly — you know the market rate range for your role and level, you have documented your specific contributions, and you have a clear number with a rationale Reasonably — you have a sense of what the market pays and you know your number, though you could not immediately cite the data behind it Partially — you have done some research but you are not confident it is specific enough to the role, level, and location to be genuinely useful

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

When you think about how you plan to open a salary negotiation — the first thing you will say to establish what you are asking for and why — the most honest version of how you frame it is:

In terms of the value you have delivered and the market rate for someone with your contribution and capability — the case is about worth, not want In terms of what you need — your costs have gone up, you have been at the same level for a while, and it is time for an increase You are not sure — you have not fully decided how to open and you tend to let the other person set the frame In terms of what others are earning — you know what the market pays and you are ready to reference it, though you are less clear on how to connect it to your specific contribution

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

When you are in a negotiation and the other person pushes back — says the number is too high, that budget is constrained, or that this is not the right time — your most honest first response is:

You adjust — you offer a lower number or accept the constraint without fully testing whether it is real You hold your position but feel the discomfort of it — you do not move immediately but you are not confident in how long you can stay there You stay grounded — you acknowledge what they have said, ask a specific question to understand the constraint better, and then respond to what is actually driving the pushback You concede — the pushback signals to you that you have asked for too much and you want to resolve the tension

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You are offered a role with a salary that is lower than you wanted but not insultingly so. You need to decide in 48 hours. Your most honest approach is:

You negotiate — you thank them for the offer, name what you were expecting based on your research and the role's requirements, and ask whether there is room to move You accept — you are grateful for the offer and do not want to risk the relationship or the offer by pushing back You ask whether the salary is flexible without naming a specific number — you want to open the door without committing to a position You ask for more time to consider — you are not sure how to handle the negotiation and you need to prepare

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You believe that the most important thing in a salary negotiation is knowing your worth and having the confidence to ask for it. You:

Know confidence matters but that a confident ask without specific evidence is easier to dismiss than a calm, specific, evidence-backed one — the preparation is what makes the confidence credible Know that confidence is necessary but that it operates on top of something more specific — a clear number, a clear rationale, and a clear read of the conversation — without which confidence alone becomes pressure, not persuasion Consider this essentially right — people who know their worth and ask for it clearly tend to get better outcomes than people who hedge or underask Know confidence matters but that it can substitute for preparation — you have seen people with high confidence but weak cases do better than people with strong cases but low confidence

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You name your number. There is a pause. The other person looks slightly uncomfortable. They have not said no — they have not said anything yet. You:

Fill the silence — you start explaining your reasoning or qualifying your ask before they have responded Offer a concession — you soften the number or suggest you are flexible before they have indicated that is necessary 2 Hold the silence — you let it sit, maintain eye contact, and wait for their response before you say another word Ask a question — you break the silence with something that moves the conversation forward without retreating from your position

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

When you think about the last salary negotiation you had — the most recent moment where you had the opportunity to ask for more than you were offered — the most honest version of what you did is:

You accepted without negotiating — the offer felt fair and you did not want to create tension You negotiated but settled quickly — you made one ask and accepted the first counter without fully testing how much room there was You asked but without a specific number or clear rationale — you indicated you wanted more but did not make it easy for them to say yes to something specific You negotiated specifically — you named a number, explained the rationale, held your position through the first pushback, and arrived at an outcome you were satisfied with

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You are in the negotiation. You have named your number. They have come back with a counter that is lower than you asked for — higher than the original offer, but not as high as you need it to be. And in that moment, you feel something that is familiar from past negotiations: a pull toward gratitude. They moved. They are trying to meet you. Rejecting this counter feels like ingratitude. It feels like greed. It feels like risking everything you have already secured. You know these feelings. You have felt them before and they have moved you before, in ways you later wished they had not. The most honest version of what you do in the next sixty seconds is:

Accept the counter — they moved and the remaining gap is not worth the discomfort of pushing further Capitulate entirely — you thank them for moving and confirm the counter, telling yourself the original target was too high 1 Ask for time to consider — you do not want to make a decision from inside the pressure of the moment Acknowledge the move genuinely, name the specific remaining gap, and ask once more whether they can close it — clearly, calmly, and without apology

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You believe that the most effective negotiators are the ones who go in with the highest number — that anchoring high creates the most room to negotiate and produces the best outcomes regardless of how the other party responds. You:

Know this is partially true — anchoring matters, but an anchor that is too far from what the other party considers reasonable damages your credibility and closes down the conversation rather than opening it Consider this exactly right — going in high is the single most effective negotiating tactic and the evidence consistently supports it 1 Know the anchor matters but that how you justify it matters more — a high number with a clear rationale lands differently from a high number without one Know that anchoring is one tool and that the most effective negotiators calibrate their opening position carefully — high enough to create room, specific enough to be credible, and grounded in evidence the other party can engage with rather than simply dismiss

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You want to find out what the market rate is for your role before your next negotiation. The most useful source of that information is:

Salary comparison websites — sites like Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary, or Levels.fyi give you a broad range across many similar roles Your network — asking peers and contacts what they earn in comparable roles gives you the most accurate and specific data A combination of structured sources, conversations with recruiters who are actively filling comparable roles, and direct data from recent job postings — the most defensible number is built from multiple current sources, not a single one 4 Recruiters — they have the most current data on what employers are actually paying for roles they are actively filling

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You are negotiating a new offer and the hiring manager says: "This is the best we can do — we have a fixed band for this role and we cannot go above it." You believe you are worth more than the top of that band. You:

Accept the constraint — if the band is fixed there is nothing to negotiate and you do not want to waste their time Ask about other components — if the base salary is fixed you want to understand whether there is flexibility in bonus structure, equity, benefits, start date, or review timeline Accept the constraint provisionally — you say you understand but ask if you can revisit in six months once you have demonstrated your value Test it specifically — you acknowledge the constraint, then ask directly: "If the base cannot move, is there flexibility in any other component of the package — signing bonus, equity, performance review timeline?" and wait to see what they say

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

When you think about the last time you were offered less than you wanted and chose not to negotiate — the reason you gave yourself for not pushing back was:

That the relationship was more important than the money — you did not want to create tension where there had been none That you were not sure your case was strong enough — you did not have the evidence to back up a counter and you did not want to seem out of touch with the market That you were grateful — the offer was more than you had before and asking for more felt like ingratitude That the risk was too high — you were afraid that pushing back might cause them to withdraw the offer or change their view of you

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

When you think about the specific number you want to ask for in your next negotiation — the most honest version of how you arrived at that number is:

You have worked it out based on market data and your specific contribution — you can explain exactly why that number is right and not a number above or below it You have worked it out based on market data and your specific contribution — you can explain exactly why that number is right and not a number above or below it You have a rough sense — it is higher than what you are earning now and roughly in line with what you have heard others earn, but you have not done specific research You have not fully worked it out yet — you plan to decide in the conversation based on what feels right in the moment

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

The most honest version of your relationship with the discomfort of salary negotiation — the account you would give to yourself — is:

You find it uncomfortable but you do it — the discomfort does not stop you but it does affect the quality of your performance in the conversation You avoid it where possible — the discomfort is significant enough that you often decide the money is not worth the conversation You have made peace with it — you have negotiated enough times that the discomfort is familiar and no longer drives your decisions You have learned to use it — you recognise that the discomfort is information about what you care about, and you have developed the ability to negotiate effectively regardless of whether you feel comfortable

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Share with your network

You are going into a salary conversation next week — either a review, an offer, or a renegotiation. The most honest version of how prepared you are right now is:

When you think about how you plan to open a salary negotiation — the first thing you will say to establish what you are asking for and why — the most honest version of how you frame it is:

When you are in a negotiation and the other person pushes back — says the number is too high, that budget is constrained, or that this is not the right time — your most honest first response is:

You are offered a role with a salary that is lower than you wanted but not insultingly so. You need to decide in 48 hours. Your most honest approach is:

You believe that the most important thing in a salary negotiation is knowing your worth and having the confidence to ask for it. You:

You name your number. There is a pause. The other person looks slightly uncomfortable. They have not said no — they have not said anything yet. You:

When you think about the last salary negotiation you had — the most recent moment where you had the opportunity to ask for more than you were offered — the most honest version of what you did is:

You believe that the most effective negotiators are the ones who go in with the highest number — that anchoring high creates the most room to negotiate and produces the best outcomes regardless of how the other party responds. You:

You want to find out what the market rate is for your role before your next negotiation. The most useful source of that information is:

You are negotiating a new offer and the hiring manager says: "This is the best we can do — we have a fixed band for this role and we cannot go above it." You believe you are worth more than the top of that band. You:

When you think about the last time you were offered less than you wanted and chose not to negotiate — the reason you gave yourself for not pushing back was:

When you think about the specific number you want to ask for in your next negotiation — the most honest version of how you arrived at that number is:

The most honest version of your relationship with the discomfort of salary negotiation — the account you would give to yourself — is:

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