Lifescripts: What to Say to Get What You Want in Life's Toughest Situations

by Stephen M. Pollan, Mark Levine

Asking for a raise Confronting a backstabber Firing an employee Negotiating for more severance Ending a friendship Confronting a sexual harasser Debating vacations with your spouse Heading off potential client problems

Excerpt from Lifescript #7. Asking for a Salary Increase

Icebreaker: I�d like to thank you for the opportunity you and the company have given me. I recognize that you�ve been very influential in my growth and advancement. However, I have a problem that I need your help with.

Pitch #1: I�ve been concentrating solely on my professional growth and haven�t been paying attention to my stream of income…

Pitch #2: I think my salary no longer reflects my contribution to the company…

Pitch #3: I think my salary no longer matches my job responsibilities…

Whether you�re asking for a raise, confronting a backstabber, dealing with sexual harassment, Þring an employee, renegotiating a loan, discussing elder care with siblings, or asking your spouse to lose weight, scripts give you the most effective approach�and the actual words�to use.

Each of the scripts provide you with an icebreaker opener, a "pitch," and a ßow-chart of rejoinders to give any response, positive or negative.

You�ll also Þnd strategic pointers on attitude, timing, preparation, and behavior.

From a heart-to-heart chat with a friend to a boardroom confrontation with a CEO, scripts provide a map to navigate successfully through the most complicated and dreaded situations you may face in your career, business, and personal life.

Genres: Business, Self Help, Nonfiction, Reference, Personal Development, Leadership, Management

496 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from my boyfriend's (at the time) dad. I wanted to look up how to have a discussion with my boss on a salary increase. I returned the book, but then borrowed it again about six months later. At that time, I noticed the section on 'breaking up with your partner' was dog-eared. When my boyfriend broke up with me a month or so later - he used the exact lines in the book! I guess I wasn't the only one that thought it had some useful tips...

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great starting point for hard conversations. While it skews towards traditional business settings, much of the content can be modified to be relevant to many work scenarios.

[Paul Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

A valuable book for anyone's shelf. I especially like the flow charts and conditional approaches. Above all, convincing the reader to plan and prepare for conversations is awesome!

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great tool for leaders, helpful conversation flow charts. Examples are geared to for-profit businesses but can be adapted.

[Skye Sheffield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives great tips and tricks for dealing with touchy subjects related to all things work! Great for every manager to have on their shelf!

[Dione Sage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lifescripts by Stephen M. Pollan & Mark Levine is book for filled with suggestions and conversation diagrams. The subjects of conversations range from job hunting to asking your spouse to lose weight. Seriously some of these scripts were good and some left me thinking “I would never say that”. There were a few suggestions that were overly abrasive to my more passive nature but I can also see how this book can help to overcome some of the tougher issues one may face in the office. I have even referred back to this book a few times when I was at a loss on how to approach a situation.
Lifescripts would actually be a good book to gift to someone just joining the workforce. Such as a college or high school graduate that has ambitious dreams and may need some guidance as to how to approach the new business world.
The book version I have also has a CD of scripts for managers which I found to be very helpful.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference book! I use it when I need to figure out what to say in a difficult work situations for myself or giving advice to others, such as, how to respond to a salary offer that is too low, how to ask your boss for a raise, or how to tell a client your fees are increasing. It comes with handy little flowcharts to show the different conversation possibilities as well. The dialogue is lame but you get the general idea.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for those people who always think of what they want to say after the conversation is over. I like to visualize a conversation before hand and this book is great for being able to anticipate the other side.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use this book as a reference whenever I'm dealing with an employee issue at work (looks like I need to get the Lifescripts for Managers version instead). Not all situations exist in the book but the ones that do are helpful. I just finished reading the entire subordinates section again today.

[Bill Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful, when you just don't know how to say what needs to be said. It portrays many different life situations and what could be said in a positive yet authoritative way.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ref book. Flow charts for various situations to respond to - interesting approach. Lays out the likely outcomes which could help in deciding whether to confront in the fist place.

[Jennifer]

The title is great. The content, not so much. I just did not find any of his hypothetical scenarios useful at all.

[Shane]

I liked this book and all of it's very specific advice. I think it would be a great book to give a young professional to think about the snags that can happen in the workplace and practice appropriate language and discussion points. I especially like the final pages of each issue, with the "adaptations" and "key points" which get to the bottom line of each scenario beautifully. This book could be useful for supervisors with scenarios and talking points on a bunch of different workplace issues.