In every job, there comes a time when the circumstances are right to renegotiate your contract. Maybe you just landed a significant account, your quick thinking saved the company from a costly mistake, or your company has been acquired and you want to establish your role in the new corporate structure. Whatever the reason, renegotiating your deal doesn’t have to be daunting.

Kellogg’s Leigh Thompson offers advice for aspiring leaders who want to make sure their position is clear amid shifting company dynamics.

Plus, career advice for keeping your network warm.

Tips for renegotiating a contract

After an acquisition, it’s common for professionals to feel a sense of uncertainty about what comes next and how they fit into their new company’s future. Counterintuitively, this might be an opportune time to approach leadership about defining that new role more concretely. But like any negotiation, this task can be complicated.

“You’re in a classic post-acquisition bind: there’s a formal agreement in place, but the ground beneath it has shifted—and now you’re looking to renegotiate,” writes Thompson in a recent Substack post where she offers advice for starting the conversation with leadership.

Thompson recommends any negotiations happen in person. “Live, synchronous conversations allow you to adjust in real time. If they push back or misread your intent, you can pivot,” she says.

She also recommends seeking out the person ultimately responsible for contract negotiations and saving your argument for them, rather than trying to convince people outside of the decision-making process that you are deserving of a new role or raise.

When you finally land that meeting, be prepared to show them that you are delivering a clear return on their investment in your talent.

“Then tie your ask to specific ways you’ll continue to deliver value.”

Read more at Leigh Thompson’s “Dear Professor” substack.

Keeping your network warm

As our careers unfold, we accumulate a network of fellow professionals that can have a profound impact on our success. Making sure we cultivate and contribute to that network is key to ensuring that it will be there when we need it most, according to Kellogg professor Craig Wortmann.

Wortmann offers three approaches to keeping your network warm: old-school phone calls and notes, robust social-media activity, and regular updates to your broader network. Each requires some discipline, and not every approach will fit your style. But all are effective ways to stay in touch with people who may emerge as crucial contacts at the right career juncture.

Wortmann’s advice includes asking yourself why you’re reaching out—and finding the win–win in any interaction.

“First, I ask myself, ‘What do I need from these people? Why am I calling them?’” says Wortmann. “Then I back up off the selfishness and ask, ‘What is something I could offer them?’” Having an offer alongside the ask gives the person a reason to engage, even if they might not go for the ask.

This thoughtfulness extends to taking a strategic approach to your social-media presence. “Social media is super powerful because of its scale,” he says. “But you’ve got to do it consistently, and it’s got to be centered on something that you’re known for.”

Wortmann has also developed a colorful quarterly “progress report” that he distributes to his network via email. Combining the visual esthetic of a social-media post with the personalized information of a professional update can keep people engaged while offering useful information.

“You’re going to have a better chance of somebody saying, ‘Hey, I saw the ask in here. I can actually help you,’” says Wortmann. “Not only are you keeping your network warm, but something is landing with people.”

Read more in Kellogg Insight.

See you next week,

Fred Schmalz, business and art editor
Kellogg Insight