My father once received a pre-emptive counteroffer. Basically, he did his job well and took on steadily increasing responsibilities as the company expanded rap

My father once received a pre-emptive counteroffer. Basically, he did his job well and took on steadily increasing responsibilities as the company expanded rapidly, and in five years he went from a minor role in a small business to a critical role in a large business. One day his bosses suddenly realized that their senior system administrator was working for peanuts and any of their competitors would love to have him. They gave him a 50% raise on the spot. He hadn't even been thinking about other work.