Yesterday’s Advisor featured the future perspective of Marcus Buckingham; today, thoughts on management and negotiation from TV host Mika Brzezinski.
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Brzezinski, cohost of the television show Morning Joe and author of such books as Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You’re Worth, which are aimed at helping women reach their full potential, offered her observations at the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Annual Conference and Exposition, held recently in Las Vegas.
Confidence and Then Some
Roll tide! As a fan of Alabama football, Brzezinski appreciated the confidence shown by one supporter who was told he couldn’t count very well. He answered, “No problem; I only have to be able to count to 1.”
She caused a national stir early in her career when she was expected to read a story about Paris Hilton getting out of jail, and Brzezinski said, “I am not going to report that crap.” The TV industry is not “ahead of the times,” she added.
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Women and Negotiation
When she and Joe Scarborough were negotiating contracts, they were in the same car. She got a call with a small contract, and said yes, thinking “They like me.” Joe responded with a string of “f-bombs” and disdainfully rejected the offer.
Brzezinski subsequently found out that Joe’s contract was 14 times what hers was. Not that women should scream and swear, but “women need to get over being grateful. They’re lucky to have us,” she said.
Can You Beat Imus?
Though Brzezinski admits she didn’t negotiate very well on her salary, she did negotiate one bonus well—she and Joe would get substantial bonuses if they beat the ratings of Don Imus of the nationally syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning. No one thought Brzezinski and Joe could do that, so the studio executives happily agreed to the bonuses. (Morning Joe beat Imus for 9 years.)
Negotiating? “You don’t want a bargain, you want a good fit.” A good and fair fit on both sides is a good outcome.
Some Mika tips from Knowing Your Value
“Stop apologizing. Why undermine yourself?” Brzezinski says.
Learn to press the reset button. Brzezinski explains: “Men have a talent to forget everything.” She recounts times she saw Joe and their boss arguing forcefully, practically coming to blows, and then, the argument ended and one said, “Hey, did you see the game last night?” and all the tension was gone. “We [women] don’t forget anything,” she says. “We get weighed down by it all.” Don’t forget to leave personal stuff behind.
Don’t forget your power. Especially the power of the awkward silence—that resets the room. For sure, “don’t fill the room with chatter.”
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Tuesday, September 15, 2015
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This program has been approved for 1.5 credit hours toward recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) and 1.5 credit hours towards SHRM-CPSM or SHRM-SCPSM.
Join us on Tuesday, September 15, 2015—you’ll get the in-depth Next-Generation Leadership: Three Proven Ways to Strengthen Your Leadership Bench webinar AND you’ll get all of your particular questions answered by our experts.
Train Your Entire Staff
As with all BLR®/HR Hero® webinars:
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