One of the things I see consistently in my new clients is that we, women, don’t know the value of our contribution. We take our impact at the office for granted and don’t know how to articulate it, let alone get the proper compensation and acknowledgement for it. It is so heartbreaking to see women during a review process, who only ever get into talking about their improvement goals, without ever really discussing their wins and considerable contributions.
The key is to know your impact. Carla Harris, in Expect to Win, talks also about knowing what you are playing for. Too often women go in and just let the boss run the show. Instead we need to know our long term goals, know what we need to get there, know what the boss’s expectations are and what we want from the upcoming year. Then we need to have a list of our wins for the year as well as a solid understanding of what that level of achievement is worth to the organization; meaning, how are our colleagues being rewarded for the same work.
It is only when we take the meta-view, redefine the conversation, that we can really begin to drive it.