Saturday, December 5, 2009

5. My Dilemma - Solved By Suze Orman

I must thank my bloggy friend Becca again for this suggestion!!  I decided to pick up Suze Orman's - The Money Book For The Young, Broke & Fabulous.  I'm not totally broke, but who couldn't use some tips/tricks on finances & navigating the credit/financial/career world. 

Let me just say I'm only on chapter 2 & I think that every 20 something broke or note should read this book.  I have been struggling with a dilemma for quite some time now & I hope that Suze Orman's advice is right; I hope she knows what she's talking about because if so - she's just solved a big problem for me! 

In this post I talk about receiving an offer of employment from one of my current employers competitors.  I also mentioned that my current employer offered to move me to the position that I've been wanting for a while in sales/marketing.  When I was advised of the promotion to sales/marketing, we talked a bit about compensation and the compensation structure when new deals were won, but no numbers were set in stone; I suspect that may be up for discussion come January. 

Well Chapter 2 - Career Moves in Suze Orman's book has the following problem:

Problem: I'm being given more responsibility but not more money. (I don't know yet if that's really my case, I don't believe it will be, but we'll see)
Her solution: That's actually a very good thing, if you know how to play it right. 

What she says in this section is that if you're doing what you're passionate about, you put in extra hours, you show that you're willing to go above & beyond the call of duty, then you will be recognized and rewarded for all of your hard work.  She says take in as much information & take on as many responsibilities as you can, even if that means longer hours in the office because the only person who benefits from this in the end is you!

I think there's some truth in that!  When I first came to my company, I was a work-a-holic, literally spending 14 - 16 hours working because I knew that I was at a disadvantage; there were other consultants in the company that knew the products & I didn't because I was new.  When I went to work overseas with our internal team, I got the competitive edge that I needed, I was on the leading edge team & the only consultant from the US that got to work side by side with our internal team for 8+ months.  I established the right relationships so that I can now call on the people I need when I need to & they have yet to fail me & me yet to fail them.  For that, I was rewarded.  When I returned home from overseas, I was seen internally & externally as the only product expert in the US for our company.  Although there was no monetary compensation, I gained job security knowing that I had a skill/knowledge/expertise that many of our other consultants lacked. 

So Suze Orman - I'm going to trust that what you're saying is right! I'll be sure to keep yall posted on my promotion & how it goes!  I'm so ready for this new season in my life it's ridiculous!  Anyone else looking forward to a change?

6 comments:

michelle said...

i LOVE that book. it was nice to find out that i was doing the right thing without knowing it. i feel less guilty about some of the decisions ive made about my money :)

Becca Christensen said...

So so SO glad you're loving the book!

And Suze has been right for me on the issues I read the answers to in her book. I hope she is for you as well. It's never a bad idea to be indispensable.

I'm proud of you!!

Laura&Chris said...

I think I just might have to pick up this book!

Jill said...

Good luck at work! Don't work too hard or too many hours and get stressed out!
I'm posting every day for the month of Dec. also but for a different thing :)

K.Pete said...

I think that's a GREAT perspective!! And it's so true - that the person benefiting is yourself in the long run.

NA said...

@Michelle - It's a great book, I just wish I would have read it 5 years ago!

@Becca - I've finished the book! Took me a weekend; I was totally into it every day! Being indispensable has it's perks...but can also have some downfalls as I'm coming to find out. People are totally too reliant on me at times & that's scary.

@Laura - You definitely should - I love it! I may have to pull it out for reference when I feel like I want to use my credit card for something pointless! LOL

@Jill - I'm a bit of a workaholic - totally wish I wasn't because I tend to stress a lot! That's one thing I'm hoping to change in the new year - finding a good balance between my work life & personal life!

@Daisy - Yep! Hopefully I'll be a millionaire next year! ;) Totally won't happen, but I will have a ton of knowledge & skills to advance in my current career field!