Contributed by executive coach Ann Daly PhD

Dear Ann:

I need your advice about how to start the conversation about getting a raise at work. I was recently reassigned, and that has increased my workload and requires way more of my time. I feel like I am doing more work, and I am not being compensated well. Add to that, I personally know that my colleagues (who have less responsibility than I do) get paid more money. Please help, what do I do?

Yolanda S.

Dear Yolanda:

Your situation brings me back! I faced the same situation in my first job after finishing my PhD coursework at New York University, before starting on my dissertation. I took a job as editor of a trade magazine, to start paying off those student loans. I enjoyed the work; it didn’t pay very well, but nothing in journalism ever did. Then one day I found out that the worthless advertising guy, fresh out of college, who spent most of his day gossiping his way from desk to desk, made more money than I! At that very moment, I left work for the day, stopped at the drugstore downstairs to buy a notebook, and went to the research library to begin my dissertation.

But I bet you’d rather get a raise.

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Contributed by executive coach Ann Daly PhD

The way the media goes on about women “finding balance,” you’d think that Balance is a town in upstate New York. Just program it into your GPS and life will be perfect!

As if.

I hear it from my coaching clients every day: the workplace is more competitive than ever, and there is no reprieve in sight. These smart, ambitious women tell me: “I am required to deliver more and more, faster and faster, at both home and work. I feel pulled in every direction and never feel I’m doing anything well.” And that, dear reader, is the perfect formula for personal burnout and professional stagnation.

There is no such thing as “balance.” (And BTW, Prince Charming isn’t going to show up to save the day, either.) If you want to feel less stressed out and scattered, then you have to choose to harness and shape your energy. Let go of the female ego: trying to do it all, and doing it all perfectly. Instead, you have to focus, focus, focus.

That means committing to being present in every moment, wherever you are. That means being ruthless about your priorities. That means taking responsibility for how and where you direct your attention. Because more than ever, attention is the most precious gift we have to offer. Don’t squander it.

So, how do you find your focus?

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Contributed by executive coach Ann Daly, PhD

Like many summa cum laude graduates, I started my career with confidence in my talents and abilities. So much so that I refused to get involved in anything that smacked of “office politics.” I believed that work and career were all about merit, not about backroom bartering or Happy Hour schmoozing. Today I look back at my younger self with amusement and affection, recognizing that what she considered integrity was actually a tangle of naiveté and arrogance.

Oh, how I wish Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback had been around to set me straight.

In their new book, Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader, Harvard business prof Hill and business exec Lineback make an argument for office politics to which even the indignant Ms. Daly would have conceded. Here’s how I imagine such a conversation might have gone:

Q: Office politics are a waste of my time, and I don’t want to deal with them. Why should I bother?

A: Well, for one thing, your organization, like all organizations, is inherently political. Where there are people, there are power relations. If you ignore that reality, you’ll miss out on an essential tool you need to get your work and your team’s work accomplished—because your ability to obtain necessary resources often depends upon the intelligence you gather and the partnerships you’ve established. Even more, you’ll miss out on the opportunity to influence (read: lead) the direction of your organization.

Q: But what about that old saying, “power corrupts”?

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Contributed by CEO Coach Henna Inam

Is there someone at work you don’t get along with and yet need to influence? And, yes, you tend to avoid them because you just don’t see eye to eye? It could be a peer, a boss, a direct report. Here’s the best advice I have seen recently on a TED talk by Elisabeth Lesser, co-founder of the Omega Institute.

Her advice is simple, “Take The Other To Lunch”. Here are 5 Tips to start to turn the corner on the difficult relationship.

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Contributed by CEO Coach Henna Inam

The data is confounding and women are still missing out.

According to Catalyst research, companies with the highest representation of women on their top management teams had 34% higher Total Return to Shareholders than those with the lowest.  Yet, across all Fortune 500 companies, in the  2010 Census of women leaders shows women in top ranks are not making progress. Women CEO’s in the Fortune 500 has actually declined from 15% to 12%.

Lack of sponsorship appears to be a key factor driving insufficient advancement of women based on a Catalyst study. Men and women have equal number of mentors. However women miss out on sponsors (people who have the power to promote and often use that power and influence to advance careers and opportunities for others). So, the obvious question is: “How do I Get a Sponsor?”

As someone who spent the last 20 years in Corporate America, including the last few in the C-Suite (I was Chief Marketing Officer of a $2Billion company and, as President, ran over a $500MM P&L), I have had my share of being sponsored and of sponsoring others.  There were many times in my career that my sponsors took risks on me and promoted me, even before I thought I was ready for the job. The following are my insights on how to get sponsored to the top.
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