By wlc
Published September 21, 2026
“Can you take this on? Should be quick.”
You already have three deadlines, and you know it won’t be quick, but you say yes anyway.
A few weeks later, you’re the one everyone comes to for that work. Then someone else gets to present what you quietly helped build. And when appraisal season comes , you wonder why all that extra effort didn’t seem to move the needle.
We rarely use the word negotiation for any of this, as many of us associate the word negotiation only with money.
But negotiation is also about making sure
- What am I actually responsible for?
- Who is getting the rightful credit for the work?
- Which opportunities am I getting access to?
- What am I saying yes to consciously, and what does it lead to next?
The negotiation you don’t realise you’re having
A colleague asks you to take notes because you’re so organised. You agree. Your manager hands you the difficult client because you’re good with people. You agree. Someone needs a presentation fixed five minutes before the meeting. You agree.
Somewhere along the way, the things you were temporarily doing become the things people believe you own. The work expands, but neither does your title, nor your visibility. And, mostly , not even your pay.
Scope is a career decision
Being someone people can rely on is genuinely valuable. The problem is when extra responsibility becomes invisible responsibility. When “I’m happy to take this on, which priority should I move?” quietly turns into “sure, I’ll manage.”
Then there’s rightful credit attribution
You do the research, and someone else turns it into the deck and presents it to the leadership. Everyone loves the idea, while you sit there feeling less acknowledged.
Research from Gallup and Workhuman found that employees who received high-quality recognition were 45% less likely to have left their organisation two years later.
Make sure people understand exactly what you bring to the table.So instead of thinking in your mind that you deserve more recognition, try saying it to your colleague that you’d like to be included when this is presented. Be calm, factual, direct.
Access is sometimes worth more than a raise
Many-a-times, we think of negotiation as a single event that involves an offer, a counter, a handshake, and we’re back to work.
However, careers aren’t built in that one moment. They’re built in hundreds of smaller ones.
A seat in the right meeting or an introduction to a senior leader. Or even someone advocating for you when you’re not in the room, these things compound in ways a payslip doesn’t capture.
McKinsey and Lean In’s 2025 research on women in the workplace found that employees with sponsors were promoted at nearly double the rate of those without. However, far fewer women at an entry level have one, compared to men at the same level.
So the question changes from how much I should be paid to who needs to know what I can do?
Negotiate for getting the right access.
And time is worth negotiating too
This is where it gets personal for a lot of us. Flexibility is a nice-to-have, but it can quietly cost you.
Research shows women working mostly remotely are less likely to be promoted or sponsored than their on-site peers, a pattern that doesn’t show up the same way for men. It now comes with a name, flexibility stigma.
Structure flexibility the way you’d structure anything else you’re negotiating.
What changes when you start asking differently
You don’t need to negotiate everything, all the time. You just need to notice the trade.
Before saying yes, ask what you are getting in return. It doesn’t always have to be money, it can sometimes be visibility, access, or simply something coming off your plate. And sometimes the honest answer is nothing. That’s useful to know too.
Because if you’re repeatedly giving time, expertise, and energy without getting pay, visibility, or opportunity back, you might be subsidising your career.
.
Money is one part of the deal. Make sure you’re negotiating the rest of it too.