What Red Flags Should You Watch Out for as You Progress in Your Career?Sample

Switching gears, let’s say you’re currently employed. You’ve been on the job for a couple of years performing your job as if you’re working for the Lord (Col 3:23). Your manager tells you you’re doing a great job and hitting all your milestones, but you don’t see any substantial lift in pay or promotions. What do you do?

1. Pray to God for guidance. Ask yourself, “How happy am I here?” Get out of there if you’re working in a toxic environment and don’t see it changing.
2. If you think this is a place you want to stay at, then say something. A closed mouth does not get fed. It’s incredibly naive to believe that people will notice your hard work and shower you with promotions or raises (especially if you’re not the type to suck up). Typically what ends up happening is that your reward is additional work without compensation. Does this sound familiar? If so, it’s time to ask for a raise, promotion, or even both.

Many people, especially women, have been conditioned to think that negotiating is a bad thing like you’re being greedy or selfish. This is not the case. You set the tone for what you are willing to accept. If you’re passionate about something, there’s nothing wrong with fighting for it or taking a risk.

In the Bible, such as Abraham and Hezekiah negotiated with God. For example, Abraham negotiated on behalf of the people that lived in Sodom. The city had so much sin that God said, “I’m just going to destroy it.” So Abraham launches into full-on negotiation mode with God.

Abraham goes, “Will you destroy the righteous along with the wicked? What if there are 50 righteous people in Sodom?” God says, if you can find 50 righteous people, then I’ll forgive them and not destroy the city.” Abraham and God go back and forth until they settle on the number 10 (Gen 18: 23 - 33).

Hezekiah negotiated to extend his life by 15 years (2 Kings 20:6).

If we can negotiate with God, then we should be able to deal with anybody.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind if you decide to negotiate for a higher salary:

• First, make sure you have achieved the goals assigned to you.
• Summarize your unique skills
• Highlight your wins
• Share salary discrepancy data by going on Glassdoor or Indeed.

If you’ve met all of the criteria above, you should be able to ask for that raise confidently. With that said, be prepared; the conversation may not go how you want it to, but at least you can sleep at night knowing you tried to advocate for yourself.

Regardless of where you are in your journey, these are red flags you must watch out for to get to the next level in your career.

Journal Prompt

Are you happy in your current role? If not, what steps have you taken to get another position? If you’re interested in staying with your current company, how confident do you feel negotiating for a higher salary? What is preventing you from asking for a raise or promotion?