RUSH: Did you hear that? The guy did step in it, and he’s supposedly a sensitive liberal. This is curious. Let’s grab audio sound bite number 22. I think guy’s misguided on a bunch of things. Now, he’s obviously caught up in stereotypes here. Stereotypes can be funny if you know how to use them, make jokes about them. Stereotypes are there for a reason. I mean, stereotypes are stereotypes ’cause they’re typical, but this was pretty bad.

This was in Phoenix at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. The Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, spoke. And during the Q&A, a moderator, in fact a member of the Microsoft board, Maria Klawe, said, “For women who aren’t comfortable with asking for a raise or who aren’t the younger you [based on Nadella’s earlier comment], let’s say, what is your advice for them?”

NADELLA: It’s not really about asking for the raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along. One of the additional superpowers that, quite frankly, women who don’t ask for a raise have, because that’s good karma. It’ll come back. In the long-term efficiency, things catch up.

RUSH: So this guy was essentially saying to women: Don’t ask for it. Just be patient. Let karma take over. Let your work be your statement. Go ahead, stay out there, work hard, let karma take over, ’cause that is actually a superpower that women have, not asking for a raise. And if you do that, you’re gonna find that you’re gonna get many more raises and a lot more money over the long term because long-term efficiency, things catch up and you will be compensated. (interruption) You’re raising your hand. You have a question in there? (interruption) I never heard that.

I mean, I’ve heard the phrase “cream rises to the top.” And I’ve heard, “Wait around.” On this subject I’ve had every bit of advice there is. I’ve had the advice, “Do not ask for a raise. You’re only gonna become an irritating presence to the boss. Never ask for a raise.” Other people said, “You gotta go in there and assert yourself. You’ve gotta go in there and tell ’em how valuable you are. You’ve gotta make ’em pay attention to you. You’ve gotta demand a raise, not ask for it. You’ve got to go in and do it, and even if they say no, you’ve put your name in the hopper.”

And other people say, “Don’t ever do that. That’s the fastest route to getting canned. Nobody wants a troublemaker.” I’ve had people say, “Never ask for a raise and instead every day thank the boss for hiring you.” That’s Depression-era thinking. Some Baby Boomers grew up with that kind of advice from their parents because getting a job during the Depression, which was a formative event in their life, was rare. And you were to be thankful, eternally thankful to your employer for hiring you. You were to express it frequently so that the employer never, ever thought you took it for granted.

Now, at some point long after the Depression, doing that actually hurt the employee. You know why? Because if you go overboard — I mean, I’ve seen it happen. It’s not universal. Exceptions to everything. I’ll confess it was my dad that gave me that advice, and I tried it once. I thought, “Okay, I’ll try this.” I respected my dad. I thought he really knew what he was talking about, and he did, for his era. And I remember making it a point every day, I didn’t go in and say, “I want to thank you for hiring me,” but I went in every day or every week and let them know how grateful I was getting the job.

And after a while I started getting all the dirt assignments. It was just assumed that I was so grateful to be there, I would do anything. They started dumping all the stuff nobody else wanted to do on me. It was not taken sincerely. It was used. It was taken advantage of by the person. Now, it may not have been if I’d have tried it with a different employer. I think this is all specific to every circumstance you’re in. I don’t think there’s any blanket advice for asking for a raise.

I think you have to assess the circumstance you’re in and there had better be very little doubt you deserve one when you go in and ask for one, because if you go in and ask for one and they don’t even know who you are or if they think they’re being really fair with you already, you’re gonna come across as unappreciative. It’s no different than in the job interview, if the first thing you ask about is sick pay and vacation days, you’re gone. You don’t know it then, but you’re gone. Just like a college education is used to weed out applicants and reduce the numbers, that’s really what the college degree is for these days. If you don’t have one, you don’t get the interview.

The second thing is you can actually do yourself great harm if you make the mistake, whether the boss thinks you’re being treated fairly already or not, if you go in and start demanding things when everybody thinks they are being overly fair already, you’re gonna red flag yourself as unappreciative. It just depends on personality. Some people respond well to standing up for yourself, demanding a raise, being forceful. Some employers respect that. Others resent it. I don’t think there’s any universal advice that can be given on asking for a raise.

Now, what this guy was saying, and he happened to say it about women, because where is he? He’s at a conference on women. He’s actually trying, I am convinced — everybody at CEO level these days is PC. He’s trying to say something he thinks women are gonna appreciate. He’s telling them they have innate, extraordinary powers, that karma alone, if they just go out and do the job, they will be rewarded. They will be rewarded. He’s telling this to a female member of his own board of directors, who’s the moderator.

He has apologized and clarified his remarks, you could expect, but I don’t think the guy set out to insult women. Quite the opposite. He’s surrounded by ’em at this conference. What is this thing called again? The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. This guy basically says, “It’s not asking for the raise. It’s having faith the system will give you the right raises as you go along.”

I would guess that you could take a hundred employees and ask ’em, “Have you gotten raises as you went along, without asking, that you thought were justified?” and a hundred percent of them would say “no.” A hundred percent of ’em would say, “I have never been surprised with a raise. I have never gotten a raise out of the clear blue.” Now, that happens, too. That’s what I mean. There can’t be any blanket way to go about this. But this guy answered it in a blanket way, and he did it in such a way he thought he was talking about women’s special powers. He ended up having to eat his words. He’s gone out now and he’s changed what he said, apologized and he got his mind right, so he’s okay for now.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Gene in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Great to have you, sir, with us. Hello.

CALLER: Hello. Mr. Rush Limbaugh, how are you?

RUSH: I’m fine, sir. Thank you.

CALLER: I’ve been listening to you since the nineties in California.

RUSH: Well, that’s almost… You’re almost a lifer.

CALLER: Well, I was in California. I don’t know where you were. Anyway, I just want you to please, please keep doing what you’re doing. You’re one of the lone voices out there. What I wanted to talk to you about was the raises thing.

RUSH: Yeah?

CALLER: I never asked for one. I was in corporate business for 50 years. I never asked for a raise, ever once.

RUSH: How many did you get?

CALLER: I worked hard, and if you work hard, the money comes. You know that.

RUSH: To a… (sigh) To a point, yes. But I’ve also found that you have to go get it, whatever it is that you want. There’s a certain degree of preparation meeting opportunity (i.e., luck) when things come to you. But the preparation is key, or there can’t be any luck, and then there also has to be some ambition to drive. You have to want it, you have to go get it, you have to answer the door when opportunity knocks. But I know what you mean. The work will speak for itself. If you make yourself valuable to somebody, they will pay to keep you. That’s true.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Kevin in Boston. Kevin, I’m glad you waited. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: Hey, Rush, how you doing, brother?

RUSH: I’m great. Thank you very much.

CALLER: I’m working to pay my fair share of Barack Obama’s next vacation, and I wanted to respond to you were talking about asking for a raise.

RUSH: Right. Right.

CALLER: I found two ways that really work. First, what really went well for me is that I go to my employer, and I asked him, “What do I need to do to earn of a raise?” So that puts it in a positive conversation. It’s always worked well for me. Tthe second way is to start my own business, which I will do next year.

RUSH: Well, now, see not everybody’s gonna do that, and that’s not a guaranteed raise, but you are in charge. When you start your own business, if you’re the only employee, of course you’re paying yourself. If you have employees, you’re paying them first. They and their benefits get paid first. If you’ve got a passion, there’s nothing that can replace it. But, boy, that’s a big leap. Now, your other method, ask the employer what you have to do to get a raise? What he’s saying is, if you get an answer, go do it. He’s gotten the raise by doing what the boss told him. That didn’t work for me