Hi , lady Leader , and welcome to this week's episode of Leading Her Introvert Way podcast . I'm your host , dr Nicole Bryan , and this podcast is for Black , introverted women who are ready to get promoted into senior leadership and executive roles without sacrificing who they are , without burning out and without becoming addicted to work . They are without burning out and without becoming addicted to work . This week I have two announcements . The first announcement I mentioned in a previous podcast episode , which is we are almost at 100 episodes . If you're listening to this real time , this is episode 97 , which means we are about three to four weeks out from reaching a major milestone that , frankly , 95% of podcasts never reach , which is episode 100 . And I am taking suggestions on how we want to celebrate together . We can do a live episode together , we could do a special guest episode , we could do some type of game . I don't know . I'm honestly open to recommendations , but because you have been riding with me either for one to two episodes or for all hundred episodes , to me this means that we are co-creating right , and if we're co-creating , I definitely want to celebrate in a way that brings all of us a little bit of joy . If you have a thought or a recommendation on how we can celebrate our 100th episode of this podcast . Then send me a direct message on LinkedIn , or send me an email , or you can even send an endorsement or write a review on Apple Podcasts about what you enjoy about this podcast , including how you think we should celebrate the 100th episode that's coming up .
Speaker 1Okay , so that's announcement number
one . Announcement number two is that we are hosting , on September 6th , 2025 . Again , if you're listening in real time , we are hosting a workshop . It's the first time that we're hosting this workshop , and the workshop is called Her Executive Compensation Playbook . It is dedicated to you , my friend , because in addition to getting asked all the time how do I get promoted , what do I need to do to get promoted in my company ? The second most frequent question that I get asked is how do I get the salary that I deserve , salary that I deserve ? And so , to answer that question and to support you as we move into the end of year conversations around performance , merit increases , bonuses and all of that good stuff , I am hosting this free workshop . It will be on September 6th , which is a Saturday morning , from 11 am Eastern Standard Time , and you will walk away . Those who attend will walk away with their own personal playbook on what their executive compensation package should be , what it should look like and how to make the ask of your boss , of your company , in terms of getting the salary and the executive compensation package that you deserve . So if you haven't already signed up , definitely go into the show notes , click the link and get your name on the list so that you can save your seat and you can show up on September 6th .
Speaker 1All right , so now that we have those announcements out the way , let's jump into today's topic
. For the past couple of episodes so probably from episode 95 , we've been focused on money , and I haven't really called this the money series , but that's essentially what it is . Episodes 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , they're all dedicated to money , and it's an interesting thing because money typically is a taboo topic and I'm trying to demystify it Because , as professional Black women right , professional Black career women we need to get more comfortable and get more confident talking about money , because how else are we going to build wealth for ourselves , for our children , for our families , for our communities , for our communities ? We need to get to a place where we are not ashamed of talking about what we earn . We are not told to keep quiet about how much we are spending or how much we are making and what we're able to negotiate or not negotiate for ourselves . The more we talk about it , the more we normalize that we are entitled to be able to earn the type of money that we want to earn for ourselves and our families , right ? So that's what the money series is all about , and that is obviously what we're leading up to in the September 6th workshop her executive compensation playbook workshop .
Speaker 1So today we're continuing on that conversation and we're going to be talking about something that's costing you right now thousands of dollars and months , if not years , of your time , and you probably don't even realize that it's happening . You have been asking the wrong person for your salary raise , and that's why you keep getting the response of we'll see instead of an absolute yes . That's why you have had the same conversation with your boss three times , four times , five times , and nothing has changed , and that's why you're spinning your wheels instead of getting the results that you want . Now I'm about to share a framework that I call who's got the D ? And no , it is not what you're thinking . The D in this circumstance stands for decision-making power , and if you've been frustrated by salary negotiations that go nowhere or salary requests that go nowhere , then this episode is about to change everything for you .
Speaker 1Let me tell you about Tanisha . Now Tanisha came to me after about eight months
of asking her boss for a promotion . Eight months , okay . Same conversation every few weeks . Her boss would nod , agree , she was doing great work , and then he'd look into it , and then nothing right . He said he'd look into it and then nothing would happen . So Tanisha was doing everything right , or so she thought . She was documenting her achievements , she had her talking points ready , she was being persistent but professional , but she was missing one crucial piece of information . Her boss couldn't actually say yes or agree to her request .
Speaker 1See , most of us think about office hierarchy or our jobs hierarchy like this I report to my boss , so my boss makes decisions about my career . But that's not how it actually works , especially when we're talking about salary increases and promotions . Here's the reality . Most managers don't have unilateral authority to give you a raise or promote you . They might be able to give you a title change or some additional responsibilities , but when it comes to moving you to a different salary or a different salary band or changing your compensation significantly , giving you a bonus or stock options or anything like that . They actually can't make that decision themselves . They need approval From who . That's where who's got the D comes in the person or the department or the team . With the D , the decision-making power is usually who owns the budget , and that's often not your direct manager or your direct supervisor supervisor . So how do you figure out who actually has the power to say yes to your salary increase request ? Well , you can map out the decision-making hierarchy , and this is perfect for us introverts because it's strategic intelligence gathering , not necessarily office politics . Right Now , this is another thing that I will likely come back and make a whole different episode about in terms of company culture , because company culture also has an influence in terms of who has the deep .
Speaker 1Most companies do not give any one individual carte blanche authority and decision-making power over salaries or even over org design or org structure or changes that happen to your team . Inside organizations , there is usually some form of formal and informal checks and balances to make sure that no one manager , no one supervisor can make decisions that ultimately could be bad for the organization or , honestly , ultimately could be good for the organization , because you're not on the field by yourself or that manager is not on the field by themselves , they have an obligation to talk it through , to inform , to get buy-in from other people on most , if not all , of their decisions , including when it comes to salary decisions , including when it comes to hiring someone or bringing someone new onto the team , even including when it comes to letting someone go or firing someone . So it stands to reason that , despite you directly reporting into your manager , they do not have complete decision-making power and complete decision-making authority over how your role is compensated or what they may be able to give you in terms of a salary increase or promotion or bonus or anything like that . Okay , so how do you figure out who actually has the power to say yes to your salary requests ? You map out the decision-making hierarchy . First , you need to understand that most salary and promotion decisions involve at least three parties , at least three and in most organizations it's more than three , but at least three and those three are your boss , their boss , who likely controls the budget and human resources , who has to ensure compliance and internal equity right .
Speaker 1Sometimes it's even more complex than that , like in larger organizations , there might be compensation committees , diversity , inclusion teams that weigh in on equity , or executive leadership teams that have to approve anything above a certain dollar amount and the more senior you become . So , if you're going into senior leadership or you're going into the executive level , there are different committees , different review processes , different board approvals that have to occur when it comes to anything related to your compensation and when I say anything , I mean anything , right , not just about salary bonus , but any equity or stock options that might be part of your package , any sign-on bonuses that might happen as you change roles , any type of travel bonuses that you might get , any car allowances that you might get anything that is a part of your executive compensation package . When you become
a senior leader or an executive , you are likely having to go through a different approval process than the average employee in your organization . Now here's how you find out who has the D or who is involved in the D within your company , and I know you're going to be like , hmm , how do I find out ? Just ask , ask .
Speaker 1It is that simple , right ? You can ask the question directly . So in your next one-on-one with your boss , you can say something like I'm curious or I'd like to know , I'd like to understand . I am thinking about myself and my career development and my growth inside this company and about advancement opportunities inside this company . And about advancement opportunities , can you help me understand what that process looks like ? So like , for example , when I'm ready to make a formal request , who needs to be involved in that decision ? Is that something that's fully within your authority to say yes or no , or would you need to invite human resources or your manager or someone else or a committee ? Like you can literally ask that question and in most cases , let me just say it is not the fact that you're asking the question .
Speaker 1Sometimes it's all about your approach , the tone that you use . If you're able to ask the question with just a general curiosity , then nine times out of the 10 , your manager is going to answer you directly and automatically in that moment . Right , when you approach it suspiciously , or your tone is hesitant or couch it in a conversation or in a context that doesn't really flow , that's when alarm bells will go off for the other person . But if couch it in your conversation or in a context that doesn't really flow , that's when alarm bells will go off for the other person . But if you're in your regular one-on-one and you are talking about . You know , hey , I've been here for whatever 18 months and I'm seeing , you know , different opportunities around the organization . I'm not necessarily ready to move or change my role yet , but I am curious about how things kind of work and who gets to decide and who doesn't get to decide . Can you explain to me how decisions around advancement opportunities and salary or promotions happen here within this team or within this organization ? That's a very non-threatening question , frankly , right , and so that is the type of tone , that is the type of context where that makes sense for you to kind of put your curiosity out there and ask the question so you can get a better understanding before you need to make any moves about how the process works within your company . To make any moves about how the process works within your company Now , most managers will tell you the truth because they don't want to waste their time either .
Speaker 1They'd rather set the proper expectations than have you keep asking them for something that they can't deliver . The second key question is who owns the budget for salary increases ? In our department , the budget owner is almost always a key decision maker . So that's the second question that you can ask your boss , once you know who's got the D . Everything changes Because , instead of building your case for one person , you're building it now for the actual decision makers . So let me give you an example .
Speaker 1So Tanisha discovered that salary increases above 10% had to be approved by her boss , her boss's boss and the VP of HR . So instead of just convincing her immediate supervisor that she deserved a raise , she needed to build a case that could make sense to the budget owner and an HR executive . That meant that her approach had to change . That meant that was the answer to why she kept asking her boss for something and nothing was changing , because he did not own the decision . Instead of talking about how hard she worked and how much she'd grown , she needed to focus on business impact and market competitiveness . Instead of emotional appeal , she needed a business case . And here's the beautiful thing for us as introverts , this plays to our strengths . We're good at research , we're good at preparation , we're good at building logical arguments . And so the result ? Yes , she got her promotion in six weeks , but it was six weeks after she actually figured out who was on the decision and made her pitch to them . Not because she suddenly became more valuable , but because she finally was talking to the right people with the right information .
Speaker 1All right , so I promised you at the top of this episode . I promised you a framework that you could use and that would be helpful for you as you go through this process yourself . Here's your homework Before your next salary conversation , I want you to map out who's got the D in your organization . Ask your supervisor or your boss about the decision making process . Find out who controls the budget and understand what approvals are needed and at what dollar amounts , if any . Then build your case for all of the decision makers , not just your immediate supervisors .
Speaker 1And when I say build your case , it's a matter of figuring out what is important to those stakeholders . What do they need to know to feel comfortable saying yes to a request in change of salary ? You
also need to be able to make your request a reasonable one . It doesn't make sense I don't care who you're asking , what stakeholders you're presenting to If you are asking for an increase that is completely out of market and completely out of the internal equity in your company , you're going to get an automatic no , because no one is going to see that as a possibility , right ? So you have two things that you need to be thinking about . One is who owns the deed and two , what information about your request is reasonable , because then you can put those two things together to come up with your business case for the right audience . If the budget owner only cares about return on investment , then lead with the return on investment of promoting you . If HR is involved , address market competitiveness and internal equity . If there's an executive who has to sign off , focus on strategic impact and leadership potential .
Speaker 1Stop wasting your time asking people who cannot say yes to your request . Building cases for people who can . That's it Now . Remember this is not about office politics . This is about business and you being strategic in your approach . You're not trying to go around your boss or undermine anyone . In fact , you want them to be a part of the process . You're trying to understand the system in which you work . Trying to understand the system in which you work , the company in which you work , the culture in which you work , so you can work within it effectively .
Speaker 1Next week , we're talking about how to ask with confidence . Once you know who you're asking and if you want the complete system , how to research , how to build your case , how to find the decision makers and how to negotiate with confidence , then join me for my workshop on September 6th
. It is called Her Executive Compensation Playbook . The link is in the show notes , so tap that link and save your seat . And save your seat . Stop asking people who cannot say yes to your salary . Increase requests and start building cases for the people who can . Until next time , lady leader , keep leading your introvert way .