"The surest way to have others value you is to know your own value"
I was the first hire for the company where I’ve been working for the last seven years, and it’s grown tremendously. Even my boss admits that I’m the one running the entire business. At this point, I feel like I deserve more than just a raise. I’d like to request partial ownership. How do I make a request like that?
—More than just an employee
Bold questions deserve bold answers.
Your question is a reflection of what some are calling “the death of the corporation” and what I’d in turn call “the birth of the individual as a business.” The changing nature of industries today has brought about a paradigm shift in what constitutes a valuable employee. When products were being produced manually in factories, assembly-line style, then all employees had to work totally in sync. Independent thinking out of the box wasn’t only discouraged; it could cost you your job.
Nowadays, though, with so much of the assembly-line-style work automated or outsourced, the role individuals play in business is potentially much more significant. Employees need to think of themselves as mini businesses with value to offer. Whether a company contracts with an individual or a business shouldn’t matter much. The point is that you’re offering a specialized skill or service that’s worthwhile for them to pay for, by paycheck or invoice.
It’s exactly this new mode of thinking that creates questions like yours. You’ve recognized that you’re not just a cog in the machine, but you may very well be the engine that makes it go. As such, you feel you deserve to be paid accordingly.
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