much as Mary, for a few reasons. Pay is supposedly a confidential matter, and he’ll be upset that it is being openly discussed. Mary will be rebuked for disclosing her raise, and you’ll lose a potential ally, and perhaps friend.

Moreover, he won’t like the “collective bargaining” tenor of your approach.

You can assert that yo

Some negotiation gurus claim you can negotiate “anything.”

Perhaps, but you can’t negotiate with ANYONE.

And that constitutes a major problem.

For example, let’s say it’s time for your annual performance review and your boss, who is also the owner of the company, declares he is going to award you with a 5% raise in pay.

You think this is piddling based on your achievements and what’s more you know for a fact that Mary, down the hall, a far less meritorious worker, got 10%.

Can you “negotiate” a better deal?

That depends on the overall rationality and good will of your boss. If he thinks you’re challenging his judgment, or unappreciative, he may stonewall you and say, “Take it or leave it!”

In other words, if he insists on acting like a Dictator and not a Negotiator, then you’re probably out of luck, and your only power is to quit your job, suffer the humiliation of unemployment, and possibly lose, in a matter of a week or two of non-paychecks, any and all of what you would have achieved with a 10% raise.

In a word, he has POWER, not unlimited, but in a significant enough supply, to deny you what you want, and perhaps to replace you with an even cheaper worker, who just might be in a developing country such as India or China.

What can you do?

You shouldn’t argue that you deserve as much as Mary, for a few reasons. Pay is supposedly a confidential matter, and he’ll be upset that it is being openly discussed. Mary will be rebuked for disclosing her raise, and you’ll lose a potential ally, and perhaps friend.

Moreover, he won’t like the “collective bargaining” tenor of your approach.

You can assert that you

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You think this is piddling based on your achievements and what’s more you know for a fact that Mary, down the hall, a far less meritorious worker, got 10%.

Can you “negotiate” a better deal?

That depends on the overall rationality and good will of your boss. If he thinks you’re challenging his judgment, or unappreciative, he may stonewall you and say, “Take it or leave it!”

In other words, if he insists on acting like a Dictator and not a Negotiator, then you’re probably out of luck, and your only power is to quit your job, suffer the humiliation of unemployment, and possibly lose, in a matter of a week or two of non-paychecks, any and all of what you would have achieved with a 10% raise.

In a word, he has POWER, not unlimited, but in a significant enough supply, to deny you what you want, and perhaps to replace you with an even cheaper worker, who just might be in a developing country such as India or China.

What can you do?

You shouldn’t argue that you deserve as much as Mary, for a few reasons. Pay is supposedly a confidential matter, and he’ll be upset that it is being openly discussed. Mary will be rebuked for disclosing her raise, and you’ll lose a potential ally, and perhaps friend.

Moreover, he won’t like the “collective bargaining” tenor of your approach.

You can assert that yo

, he may stonewall you and say, “Take it or leave it!”

In other words, if he insists on acting like a Dictator and not a Negotiator, then you’re probably out of luck, and your only power is to quit your job, suffer the humiliation of unemployment, and possibly lose, in a matter of a week or two of non-paychecks, any and all of what you would have achieved with a 10% raise.

In a word, he has POWER, not unlimited, but in a significant enough supply, to deny you what you want, and perhaps to replace you with an even cheaper worker, who just might be in a developing country such as India or China.

What can you do?

You shouldn’t argue that you deserve as much as Mary, for a few reasons. Pay is supposedly a confidential matter, and he’ll be upset that it is being openly discussed. Mary will be rebuked for disclosing her raise, and you’ll lose a potential ally, and perhaps friend.

Moreover, he won’t like the “collective bargaining” tenor of your approach.

You can assert that yo

ou would have achieved with a 10% raise.

In a word, he has POWER, not unlimited, but in a significant enough supply, to deny you what you want, and perhaps to replace you with an even cheaper worker, who just might be in a developing country such as India or China.

What can you do?

You shouldn’t argue that you deserve as much as Mary, for a few reasons. Pay is supposedly a confidential matter, and he’ll be upset that it is being openly discussed. Mary will be rebuked for disclosing her raise, and you’ll lose a potential ally, and perhaps friend.

Moreover, he won’t like the “collective bargaining” tenor of your approach.

You can assert that yo

much as Mary, for a few reasons. Pay is supposedly a confidential matter, and he’ll be upset that it is being openly discussed. Mary will be rebuked for disclosing her raise, and you’ll lose a potential ally, and perhaps friend.

Moreover, he won’t like the “collective bargaining” tenor of your approach.

You can assert that you have done your best; you have beaten last year’s performance, and you should be prepared to give him solid facts, statistics, and examples.

And, you can promise even better performance in the future, because a higher raise is both a reward and a future incentive. You’ll live up to his confidence in your performance yet to come.

Above all, keep it friendly, positive, and smile! I know it’s hard, but he is probably more apt to grant you what you wish based on feeling benevolent than being bullied.

If this doesn’t work, he’ll think he still has your good will as you quietly test the market for better positions.