February: The Introvert's Guide to Getting Paid What You're Worth in 2026
Q1: Planting the Seed - February Focus: Finding Your Advocate
Welcome to month two. If you followed January’s blueprint, you’ve already done more than most people do all year. You know what the next level looks like, you’ve had the initial goals conversation, and you have a follow-up meeting locked in for April.
This month, we continue planting seeds. You planted the first one with your manager in January. Now you’re planting a second one with someone who has real influence over your promotion.
“But why do I need another person?” you’d ask. Well, regardless of whether you have a good relationship with your manager or not, your manager might be a small fry too (if you are working in a large company). Most often, your manager’s goal is solely focused on delivering the project on time and under budget. Which is good for the business but that’s only one value of many that your company is looking for - and it’s probably everyone’s goal too.
Your Advocate is the person who actually has influence over your promotion and pay as they typically sit above your manager and their advocacy carries more weight. They sit closer to the business side and may see the bigger picture that your manager does not. Use this to your advantage.
You’ll also start your Wins Document so you’re not scrambling for evidence later.
Let’s break it down.
Step 1: Identify Your Advocate
This is where most people go wrong. They assume their direct manager is the person who determines their promotion and pay. They talk to their manager and wait for the promotion to happen. In many companies, especially larger ones, that’s not true.
Your manager might be a small fry too. They might have limited influence when it comes to budget decisions. All they can really do is say whether you did a good job or not. But that information just gets passed up the chain. It’s the people higher up who actually determine promotions and pay.
I learned this the hard way. I spent more than a year talking to my manager about promotion. My manager gave me a rating of 4 out of 5 and I got a 6% raise ($10k) but no promotion. The following year, I focused on the Director who sat two levels above my manager. I got a 3 out of 5 rating but 3x the pay rise from the previous year ($30k) - bumping my annual salary from $160,000 to $190,000 - PLUS a promotion while people around me were getting laid off. Here’s the receipt.
Same job (because I was already doing a Senior role without the title and pay). Lower rating. Dramatically better outcome. All because I found the RIGHT Advocate.
Look, in his defence, my previous manager wasn’t a bad person. He was really caring in a fatherly kind of way and would occasionally praise me in front of others. However, he doesn’t know how to play the game or maybe, he just didn’t care enough. The emails I sent him about my achievements stayed in his inbox and maybe you are in this situation. Don’t fret, this is why we need a second person as your true Advocate. Someone who is high enough up the chain to decide how many promotions the company is willing to hand out and hopefully, give one to you.