The Silent Negotiation

This weekend a friend from back home came to Atlanta to kick it with me for a few days…

Before he came, he mentioned trying to get a promotion for the company he works for…

He was telling me about the benefits they gave him for his first promotion (more on this later), how he’s loyal to the company, and how the people there have his back.

I smiled and wished him the best on the promotion while holding back a few words that could kill the mood…

In the back of my head, I knew what was about to happen but couldn’t say anything yet…

I’d seem like I was just being negative.

So a few days roll by and he gets a call while we’re out congratulating him on getting the new role and they were going to send over the offer.

Mind you, he’s a manager at a billion-dollar logistics company that you probably use every day.

Then I see the smile wipe off his face as he’s reading the offer.

You see, when he got is first management promotion, he got an 8% pay increase and $10k relocation bonus. (Since he had to move away from home)

But this offer involved a 7% decrease in pay, and he assumed they would give him another $10k relocation bonus since he was being moved again

(the same exact distance btw)

“They just f**ked me.” he said.

“But at least I’ll get $10k to go to a new location”

While I tried to give him some ideas on negotiating and the psychology behind the silent war between employer and employee, he impulsively signed the offer…

Then he started to compare and contrast his first promotion offer to his current ne….

the $10k bonus was nowhere to be found…

He had basically signed up for more work, with less pay…

So he called up the hiring manager and asked her why the bonus was missing and that he really needed it….

And what he did next destroyed literally any chance he had at getting the money...


Not only did he sign the contract without reading, but when the hiring manager asked him:

Are you going to reject your offer if you don’t get the bonus….

His answer was “no” —- believing that someone in the company would have his back and help him out…

I’m pretty sure you can tell how this turned out…

He literally lost all negotiating power.

And didn’t even know it…

Because on paper, they NEEDED him…

That location was understaffed…

And he was the best candidate on paper for the job…

Beating out about 60 other applicants…

And he was good as what he did —- The numbers backed him

But since he didn’t negotiate correctly…

Since he didn’t cause any confrontation or conflict….

He got Played…

And realized the hard way that his company didn’t care about him as much as he thought.

I wrote this email

Because most of us forget that everyone and everything is selfish.

And the only way to get what YOU want is to give someone else what THEY want.

There’s really no other way…

My friend here could’ve found a way to make his hiring manager look good…

Thrown around some counter offers to make the company more money…

or even simply reminded them of how much of an asset he is to their business.

But instead he quietly accepted defeat, without realizing that people care about themselves more than they care about his problems…

Just food for thought this Monday morning.