A Tough Lesson
I was due to meet with the boss for an aircheck meeting. That’s when you sit and listen to a previously aired show on tape and endure the excruciating embarrassment of reliving each and every break all over again. If you’re REALLY lucky, the PD will stop the tape repeatedly and point out what you did wrong. If you’re INCREDIBLY lucky, he’ll play the same mistake over and over until he’s sure you “get it”. This PD was pretty easy-going and never belittling, so I was never nervous about meeting with him. He had high standards but he didn’t take joy in making his staff uncomfortable. He was, and still is, cool.
I popped into his office and he was nowhere to be found. I noticed spreadsheets laying on his desk – ah, yes, it was budget time. As I turned to leave I realized the spreadsheet before me contained the names of the on air staff. I stopped dead. No, I said to myself. I’m bigger than that. I don’t need to take a cheap peek and see what my fellow announcers are earning! That’s not my style.
I got about 5 paces away before I decided it WAS my style. Telling myself “I’m only human!”, I leaned back into the office and saw the salaries of each and every one of my colleagues. From morning show host to part-time swing, I saw the entire list. It had more zeroes than a Star Trek convention. It was like a slap in the face. I was nearly the lowest paid – even among those who were beneath me on the totem pole of seniority and shifting! My stomach flipped around like a trout on the deck of a boat. I got all hot and dizzy. It was a truly physical reaction to the stew of emotions swirling round in my system. I felt taken advantage of, unappreciated…stupid! Even the guy whose job I inadvertently usurped – was paid DOUBLE my salary!
The next question was…what do I do with this information? Do I keep it to myself or fess up and see where that got me? I eventually chose door #2, under the heading “Boss, here’s why you shouldn’t leave private stuff lying on your desk in your open, abandoned office!”
The salary spread was a huge wake-up call for me. I was told all of the usual things like, you were promoted from within and others cost more to snag from other stations. So-and-so had a counter-offer, whatsisname had more experience…blah blah blah. I had a choice. Get angry and develop an ulcer or learn something valuable. The truth of the matter is, you make your own deal and I decided I could either go nuts comparing myself to the rest of them, unfavourably I might add, or just adopt a paradigm shift and realize that their salaries have nothing to do with me. I made my deal. I let the station decide what I was worth and it was way too little. I wasn’t exactly a shrewd negotiator and now I was seeing the proof, that was all. I vowed to stop being a push-over when it came to wage negotiations and I’ve stuck to that. And it has, literally, paid off.
