Hi Reader, We're back with Part 3 of our conversation with Arben Malaj, one of the most renowned economists in Albanian history (and Gerta’s father!). If you missed Part 1 and Part 2, Arben walked us through what it was like to serve as Albania's Minister of Finance in the late 1990s, during one of the worst financial collapses in modern economic history. 60% of Albania's population lost their savings overnight in a wave of Ponzi schemes. Arben was 36, barely in politics, and somehow became...
8 days ago • 5 min read
Hi Reader, The recruiting process has a lot of unwritten rules, and most candidates follow them without question. When a company asks you what your preferred salary is, it seems normal to give it to them. It just feels like what you're supposed to do, so you do it. That's just what the process looks like, right? It doesn't have to be. The norms favor employers, and that's not an accident There's a quote by American author Eliot Schrefer: "Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people." In...
11 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, We held a free negotiations Q&A recently (if you missed it, we'll announce future ones here on our newsletter), and there's one question that comes up every single time: "When a company asks me what my preferred salary is, what should I say?" TLDR: don't give them a number or range. Let's dive deeper into this. Be careful with early compensation questions Sharing your preferred salary number will never help you, except in very rare edge cases. Imagine that negotiations are like a...
14 days ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, There’s a video of Meryl Streep going around where she describes how she doubled her compensation for “The Devil Wears Prada” in 2006. What went down? TLDR: The Devil Wears Prada (2006) team called Meryl Streep to offer her the role. She said no. They doubled her ask. Here's a breakdown of her negotiation tactics, her leverage, and how that’s applicable to everyday negotiations like job offers: Quick PSA: Free Live Q&A this Friday We're hosting a free negotiations Q&A this Friday,...
18 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, A Reddit post caught our attention this week. Someone spent three months unemployed, got through six interviews, received a verbal offer, and countered on three things: a hybrid schedule, an extra week of vacation, and a 7% salary bump. The company responded by saying they no longer believed he was a fit, and they rescinded the offer. Here's the full Reddit post: A lot of people in the comments were furious on his behalf. And honestly, the company's reaction does seem extreme. But...
23 days ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, Paula Schwarz has a complicated relationship with the word "negotiation." She grew up immersed in a German pharmaceutical family empire, one of the largest in Europe. She was expected to look good, stay quiet, and not ask too many questions. She did the opposite of all three and ultimately left it all behind. Before we even got to tactics on this episode, we went deep into identity, leverage, and not knowing what you want until you've been pushed hard enough to find out. Paula...
25 days ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, We recently had Pri Upadhyay, the talented product management coach behind "Product with Pri", on the Gentle Power Podcast (YouTube | Spotify | Apple). Pri spent 18 years in tech, including time at Google and Salesforce, then built a coaching and training business for product managers, helping senior PMs, directors, and VPs navigate job searches and transitions. Pri is a career coach who's come to believe negotiation is one of the most underrated skills in her field. Her clients...
28 days ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, Imagine you prepared for your negotiation carefully, picked your moment, and framed the ask cleanly. And they still said no. Most people walk away from that thinking they did something wrong. They second-guess their phrasing, timing, the numbers that were discussed, maybe they shouldn’t have pushed so hard. That instinct is understandable. It’s also a reasoning error that many people tend to miss or discount called “resulting.” 1. What “resulting” actually is Resulting is when you...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, We recently had Jim Lose on the Gentle Power Podcast (YouTube | Spotify | Apple). Jim is a former Marine Corps officer and CEO of The Military Veteran, a recruiting firm that places veteran executives into high-growth, venture-funded and private equity-backed companies. Jim spent the early part of his career as a battalion intelligence officer and built extensive experience working with senior military leadership, including leading regular briefings to the Commandant of the Marine...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read