“All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share.”
The line is Sally’s in “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” and I wish we all had a piece of her attitude. Asking for what we want at work can be hard and can feel confrontational, but it’s a great time to channel a bit of that Sally energy. (Though I strongly recommend against calling your boss a blockhead.)
Unfortunately, too many of us go through our work lives without telling anyone else what we want. We imagine that our excellent work will demonstrate to the higher-ups that we deserve raises and promotions, but the sad reality is that they are unlikely to notice it. Instead, we need to learn to point out our accomplishments to the important people at work, and to be vocal about the growth we want.
A couple years ago, I read a story about a young woman who was an attorney at a large firm. She was doing twice the work of most of her peers and was routinely complimented on the quality of her work. But she was flabbergasted to see 2 of her more junior coworkers promoted to partner while she sweated away in the trenches. When she finally got up her nerve to ask her boss why, he was surprised and said that she’d never voiced a desire to be made partner, so they thought she wasn’t interested. The two young men, on the other hand, announced to everyone that that was what they were aiming for the day they started at the firm, and it was something they regularly (and appropriately) mentioned to their own bosses.
The important part of this is that the young men who were promoted weren’t being jerks or grandstanding. They didn’t start every meeting with the announcement that they were ambitious. They didn’t make everyone else do their work and take credit for it. They simply mentioned that that was what they wanted when they had meetings with their bosses. All they wanted was their fair share, and they simply said so.
I promise this doesn’t have to be pushy or uncomfortable. You don’t have to bring a megaphone to work and yell into it. But if you see a particular growth path you want in your work, tell people. Write down what you want to say next time you have a check-in with your boss. Ask if there’s anything you could be doing better in order to get there. Wanting to grow in your career is perfectly normal and very healthy. And with a little more Sally in your heart, you can choose the most exciting path of your growth.
