And yet, over time I have come to realize how right and important they are, even if they are sometimes hard to swallow.
Hello friends, I hope you are very well, today I want to share with you 3 tips that I have been given throughout my life by people who have worked hard all their lives, and that are nothing like the clichés that they repeat ad nauseam on social networks and in the famous health or wellness segments or motivational talks. And I will also share with you my reflection on those tips. Let's start.
1. Never give away YOUR job.
This advice came from my older brother, who took the time to explain to me why giving away my work is not only bad for me, but for everyone in that area of work that I manage. You see, when you give away your work, not only do you stop receiving a benefit that belongs to you, but at the same time, you take away the opportunity for someone else to do that work and get paid for it, or failing that, you devalue the value of your work, because the person who hired you will feel that they should pay less for that work because there are people like you, who do it for free.
With this I do not mean that you can not do a favor, of course you can, if for example you are a cab driver and a friend needs a ride somewhere and has no money, go ahead, do it, a favor, once, but if this becomes a habit, and that person never pays, you have to stop giving away your work my friend, because you not only encourage the devaluation of your work, but you also take away opportunities to your cab driver comrades. Also, you would be allowing a person to live beyond their true capabilities, which is bad for that person in the long run.
If someone wants to hire you, always agree on a price before you start the job, at least an estimated price if you work in an area where the final costs cannot be predicted. And make sure you charge what your work is worth.
2. Don't allow yourself to be forbidden to talk about money in your work.
If you've worked in a couple of companies you've probably encountered one of those bosses or middle managers who dislike employees talking to each other about how much they make or how they use their money, this, along with the cliché 'never ask a man how much he makes' is part of a narrative, a narrative that exists for the benefit of those who want to pay their employees less.
You see, when we employees can talk openly about our salary we can compare whether someone who does the same job as you, earns more or earns less, and start to wonder, Because? and that question is one that has to reach our boss's ears, as at best it may be a mistake, or it may be explained to you that seniority in the company has a bonus, or that that person did additional work that you did not, and that is not bad for anyone, in fact, when a company clarifies those things it stimulates its employees to stay in the company or do their job better, or work more, if a company wants to keep the wages of co-workers in the dark it is because they simply cannot justify to their workers the distribution of wages.
It is very important to clarify that with this I am not saying that everyone should earn the same, sometimes we can see a disproportionate difference between our salary and that of, for example, a supervisor, but we must take into account The years of preparation, the years of experience of that supervisor, that is worth a lot, the responsibility on their shoulders means that the supervisor has to answer for the work of several people, without being able to directly control their actions, and that is a difficult job. Knowing how much someone with a better position earns should not demotivate us, on the contrary, it should motivate us to earn a better position in that company, or move to another one where they offer us improvements.
But none of these ideas are possible in a work environment where you are not allowed to talk about money openly, so you know, ideally, you should be able to talk about money openly with your boss. That would be ideal.
3. Don't let your bosses convince you that you can't do better, or aspire to more.
It's amazing how many talented people stay in jobs where they are stuck because they are never told how good an employee they are, or they are told their work is mediocre and therefore they can't aspire to better, and this is more common than they think, you see, as part of the same narrative of avoiding talking about money so employees don't ask questions, there are bosses a step more abusive who intend to make certain employees believe that their work is not worth that much, that they are not good workers, or that their potential is limited, that is, so they don't have to pay more for the work, or to prevent employees from realizing that their work is worth more than what they are being paid and start looking for other job options.
You may not be the fastest worker, nor be the most efficient in the company, but if you are never absent, fully comply with your schedule and do what you are asked to do, that is enough to be a good worker, who can be trusted to fulfill their tasks. Do not let them use a small mistake to manipulate you to continue exploiting you, correct your defects, work on improving, and if you see that you improved and the reward does not come, do not be afraid to ask for it, if it is not given to you, then look for another job option. But don't let someone manipulate you and damage your self-esteem just for interest, remember something very important, successful people, like our bosses, are successful not only because of hard work, but also because they are good at convincing people to do what they want, no matter if they are comfortable with it or not, to move up, sometimes you have to go over others, so don't let a boss manipulate you with his corporate talk.
Of course, we are not all good at everything, sometimes we accept a job and it turns out we are really bad at it, it takes wisdom to know the difference, so I recommend you do the same as I did, ask for advice from people who have worked all their lives and who you trust, just like I asked my father and my brother.