The Leadership Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in business contribute answers to timely questions about careers and leadership. Today’s answer to the question, “How do you ask for a raise?” is written by Cat Lincoln, CEO and founder of Clever.

Research shows that men are more likely to be successful in talking themselves into a higher

salary than women are. The reluctance of female employees to advocate for themselves is often the difference between climbing the career ladder at a healthy pace and not climbing it at all.

I can tell you that in my years of hiring hundreds of employees, 100% of the men I’ve hired have negotiated something—money, time off, and in the case of an unpaid intern, access to food. Yes, even the unpaid intern negotiated his “salary.”

By failing to negotiate salary, promotions, and other advancement opportunities that men commonly and aggressively pursue, we’re not putting our mouths where the money is.

Here’s how women should approach negotiating:

Don’t be afraid to rock the boat

Women are often perceived as greedy and demanding when trying to negotiate—an attribute rarely ascribed to men. Talking about money is emotional. Add in the general shame around talking about money at all, and there’s a pervasive sense of guilt, whether you make the ask or don’t. But what you must realize is that negotiating about compensation is not only appropriate, but expected. Remove the guilt and find data to justify what you’re asking for.

Do your homework

Level the "information battleground" and check out Salary.com and Payscale.com to see how people with similar skills, education, and experience fare up, both nationwide and in your city. Women are taught to communicate in non-confrontational ways (not that asking for a raise is confrontational, but it can feel like it), and rarely encouraged to consider their contributions in terms of financial value.

Role-play with a trusted colleague

There’s a myth that women aren’t supportive of other women, but I’ve found the opposite is the case. I was fortunate enough to have three powerful mentors at different stages of my career who put their political capital on the line time and again for my colleagues and me. The good news is that we have an opportunity to engage in self-perpetuating activity: the more women in powerful, high-paying roles, the more women we’ll see in powerful, high-paying roles.

Make it factual, not emotional

At my company, we teach all employees to have the conversation with their supervisors by framing the ask in terms of the value she brings to the organization, reinforcing the concept that her contributions are valuable. We teach her to detail specific milestones that demonstrate that value and make it tangible for her supervisor. These conversations are scary and emotional, and very few of us have ever said the words, “I’d like to talk to you about my compensation” out loud. But when you work through the fear, you realize it’s just a factual conversation. It feels a little awkward, but this is for money. It’s worth feeling a little self-conscious to practice and get it right.

I am always acutely aware of how vulnerable and scary it can be to take a leap of faith and declare your value. However, I believe it is my responsibility as a leader to be supportive as my female employees take ownership of their achievements and ask for what they’re worth—and then to put my money where my mouth is. It’s my favorite part of my job.

领导力内幕网络是美国的一个在线社区，美国商界最睿智和最有影响力的大咖会在这里及时回答与职业和领导力有关的问题。今天为大家分享的是Clever公司创始人、CEO凯特•林肯在“如何要求加薪？”这一问题下的答案。

研究显示，在要求加薪的时候，男性比女性更容易获得成功。有些女性之所以能一步一个脚印地爬上职业生涯的阶梯，而有些女性始终处于职场金字塔的塔基，这其中的区别就在于她们能否大胆地为自己争取权益。

我可以告诉你，在多年的招聘工作中，我曾经亲自招聘过几百个员工，其中男性员工100%都会跟公司谈判，要么谈薪水，要么谈休假。就连没有薪水的实习生也要谈免费工作餐的事情。是的，就连没有薪水的实习生也要变相地谈他的“薪水 ”。

男人总是会大胆地追逐加薪、升职等职业发展机会，而女性在面对涉及自身的经济利益时，却总是羞于开口。

那么，女性应该如何与公司进行谈判呢？

别害怕“无事生非”

女性员工只要一开口谈判，就容易让人产生贪婪和苛求的印象，然而这些形容词很少会用在男人身上。很多人觉得谈钱伤感情，还有很多人一谈钱就觉得不好意思，不管开没开口，自己先背负上一层内疚感。但是你必须意识到，谈薪水不仅没有什么好愧疚的，而且公司也期待你这样做。所以你要打消自己的内疚感，准备好充分的数据证明加薪的合理性。

做好功课

在提出加薪要求前，你要充分利用“信息战场”，为自己的谈判增添筹码。比如你可以在Salary.com和Palscale.com等相关网站上看看具备相似技能、教育背景和工作经验的人才值多少钱，同时既要看看全国的水平，也要看看你所在城市的水平。我们的社会总是教育女性不要采取对抗性的沟通方式（并不是说要求加薪这种行为本身是一种对抗，但它很容易给人产生对抗的感觉），也很少鼓励女性从经济价值方面考虑自己的贡献。

跟一名信任的同事进行“角色扮演”

有人说，女人很少会真心支持其他女人，但我发现事实恰恰相反。在我职业生涯的不同阶段，我幸运地遇到了三位很有实力的人生导师，她们不止一次利用她们的政治资本提携了我和我的同事们。其实职场女性完全可以形成一个良性循环：在高薪实权岗位上的女性越多，未来就会有更多女性进入高薪实权岗位。

用事实说话，不要情绪化

在我的公司，我们会教员工如何与她们的上级进行对话，尤其会教她们如何向上级表明他们对公司的价值，从而让公司明白她们的贡献是有价值的。特别是要教她们通过详细阐释一些意义重大的事件来彰显她们的价值，使上级实实在在地感受到她们的重要性。对于女性员工来说，这种对话往往是比较令人提心吊胆且比较偏情绪化的，很少有女性员工曾经大胆地说过：“我想跟你谈谈薪水的事。”但只要你克服了这种恐惧，你就会意识到这只是一场就事论事的谈话。虽然你可能感觉有些尴尬，但换来的却是真金白银。所以即便有些难为情，你也应该好好练习，争取谈判成功。

我一向清醒地知道，女性要想迈出理念上的飞越，向公司宣告自己的价值，必须要克服脆弱和恐惧的心理关。同时我也认为，当我的女性员工们辛辛苦苦地取得了一系列成就，并且要求获得与她们的价值相等的待遇时，作为一名领导，我的职责就是要支持她们，并且要说到做到。而这也正是我最喜欢我的工作的地方。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎