Success Story: Tina
Tina came to me in 2017. Like many people, she had a fair share of obstacles and problems in her life. But her biggest challenge of all was her job.
As a lawyer, she was earning about 120k annually - it was a fair wage. But the money couldn't hide the fact that she wasn't happy with her work. As someone ambitious, she wanted to develop in her role. But there just wasn't enough opportunity on a day-to-day basis at work for her to grow, learn, and progress. So, she came to me.
After my first consultation, I presented her with two options: think outside of the box for ways to progress in her current job, or look for another one.
Tina decided to find a way to make her current role work. We worked together on a programme to help her advance within the company. While she followed every step and made considerable progress within herself, she just couldn't get any further in her current role. There was a glass ceiling that she couldn't break - even when she proactively asked for more responsibility. Her managers overlooked her potential and instead gave her irrelevant tasks that didn't allow her to grow. Instead of being productive, she was merely kept busy.
Unsurprisingly, Tina wasn't satisfied. She knew what she wanted and was willing to put in the work to develop her skills and grow. Her work needed to be recognised and rewarded. So, we decided to change it up and look for a job where she wouldn't be overlooked.
I asked Tina to write down a list of the 20 companies she would genuinely love to work for; her absolute dream jobs. How many of us really consider our dream jobs and companies? From that 20, I told her to choose 10. Then from the ten came three.
We had three companies that Tina would love to work for - Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Next, came the big question - if you only had to pick one from these to apply to first, which one would it be? Tina chose Google.
The decision was the first step that we took together to change Tina's life completely. There was plenty of hard work ahead, but she followed the steps and my advice, and it started to pay off. I told Tina to work on her LinkedIn profile - she made an excellent investment to upgrade to the premium version, as well as working with a professional copywriter who specialises in LinkedIn profiles. As well as taking practical steps, we looked at how her personal life was impacting her professional one.
Two months into the coaching programme, and just three weeks after improving her LinkedIn profile, a person from Google approached her with a job offer.
Tina was utterly shocked. She couldn't believe that something like this could happen.
Like I tell all my clients, I told her; these things happen when you focus and concentrate on a clear goal. It's in our nature. Think about it, if you decide you want a red BMW, suddenly, everywhere you look, you see red BMWs. Nothing has changed. They were always there - your brain just wasn't focusing on them.
The critical thing to remember from Tina's journey is that she achieved her dream job, not by dreaming about it. She set a goal, worked hard, took advice, made changes, and her dream job found her. The law attraction can only work if you are taking action, not just dreaming.
With the Google interview only four weeks away, I asked Tina one of the most important questions -
"How much would you like to earn?"
Her first answer was £120k per year. The same salary as her old role but this time with room for growth. I asked her if she thought she could earn more the £120k? Did she want to make more? Obviously, she said yes, she wanted to but wasn't sure if she could. When asking what she thought her earning potential could be, she considered £140k, or £150k. After some long talks, we landed at £250k, an amount she was very uncomfortable with. Her fear was linked to her self-worth. She didn't believe she was worth that amount.
I told her, "on the day of the interview; you're going to tell them that you want to earn £250k". The first response was a shocked "no". She couldn't earn that much. It's too much.
I told her it is NOT. Because that was the truth, she was worth it, she just didn't know it yet, and she didn't know how to ask for it.
We prepared for the big Google interview with some training interviews. To make her comfortable asking for the salary she deserved, we practised multiple ways of asking. We also worked on helping her understand her worth, her skills, and why she really was worth a £250k salary.
It was only at the last trainee interview where she finally built up enough confidence to ask for £250k. She was denied. Rather than fall apart, she continued to negotiate her salary. She was ready for Google.
The day of the interview came. Tina handled everything well, and when the final question came, she knew her worth. After explaining her expectations and how her skills matched the job requirements, Tina asked for a dream amount of £250k. The interviewer left to confirm that with a manager and came back with an offer.
It stood at 238k pounds per year - as that was their maximum budget for that position.
Tina called me right after the interview, enthusiastic, and so I asked her a fundamental question -
"Do you know why they offered you 238k per year?"
She said yes - it was down to my coaching. How I changed her mindset and really pushed her onto that path. It was partly right. But the more important reason for getting that job and salary was because she asked for it.
In life, you're going to have to ask for what you truly want. If Tina went to Google and asked for 180k, she would have got it, and they would have saved money. If she asked for less, they might not have even hired her because she thought she wasn't worth it.
I helped Tina see that she was worth £250k. Because she saw it, Google saw it. After several months of coaching, Tina left behind a mundane job for a position that offered almost double her original salary and has room for promotions and progression. And Tina didn't stop there; in the twelve months I spent coaching Tina, she got another two promotions.
Moral of Tina's story?