Jamie Lee is an executive coach for smart women who hate office politics. She helps them get promoted and better paid without throwing anyone under the bus.
All tagged female executive coach
A client recently transitioned into a custom-made-for-her leadership role—with executive sponsorship and the team support of her dreams. And now? 🥶 She's frozen. In her words -- "overwhelmed by everything [she] could be doing."
The day I found out I was underpaid from reading an industry newsletter with salary benchmarks, it dawned on me like a gut punch:
I DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR MYSELF.
If, as you go to engage the room, anxiety and doubt rise in your chest... It’s easy to mistake your uniqueness as something to be fixed or tucked away—like a stained shirt sleeve you’re embarrassed to be wearing.
When your mind floods with doubt, and you wonder if you’re too much—or not enough—here’s the truth you’ve temporarily lost sight of:
You’re allowed to feel both proud and petrified. Brave and unsure.
You don’t have to resolve that tension. You get to be real inside it. That’s one of the most honest, human things you can do.
My mom — a South Korean immigrant with ironclad grit who wishes nothing less than abundance and success for her children — would probably get mad at me for saying this: I delight in making less money, by design.
It’s not a failure of strategy or a lack of hard work. Choosing to leave money on the proverbial table is a deliberate, values-based choice.
My client, Kasvi, came into our session feeling frustrated, angry, and rejected.
Her boss had shut down a well-intentioned suggestion for improving team output—something Kasvi offered in good faith to support the team’s performance.
But instead of openness, she hit a wall: “That’s my problem to fix,” said the boss tersely. (Translation: “Stay off my turf.”)
I teach a concept called Itty Bitty Sh*tty Committee (not a new idea 💡 — I first heard it from Kara Snyder when she coached me about a decade ago, and I’ve run with it ever since).
Itty Bitty Sh*tty Committee, or IBSC, for short, is the voice of our inner critic.
On a cold February night in 2008, I ran away from the South Slope apartment I'd been sharing with my husband like my life depended on it. In a full-blown panic, I ran down 4th Avenue shrieking, "JUST GO AWAY!" to the man I'd shared a life with for the last three years.
When you’re that rare woman, one of the handful of people of color, or the neuro-sparkly oddball in leadership…Navigating office politics and advocating for yourself is spiritual work.
As an executive coach I work for the 1% -- but not the ones hoarding wealth. The 1% I work with are stockpiling something even more powerful, even more in short supply these days: Courage, vision, and the guts to rewrite the rules.
As with so many hard-working, conscientious professionals I've had the privilege of working with, the real challenge wasn’t the logistics of securing multiple offers. It was socialized guilt. Guilt is a learned emotion. It got ingrained in us by authority figures who wanted us to be—let’s be blunt—easily controllable.
The odds are stacked against employees, especially women and minorities. Macroeconomics, mismanagement, layoffs, discrimination—forces beyond your control determine your fate.
So why bother?
Why fight for a promotion?
Ever get a Slack (or Teams) message so harshly worded it makes you want to throw your laptop out the window?
Yeah, my client did too.
And that frustration? It can stick, mess with your focus, confidence, and even how you show up in that next 1:1 — unless you have a scientifically proven way to clear it.
Ready to turn “no” into your next opportunity?
You're done letting "no" (the pushback, all the hemming and hawing, and the excuses) hold you back.
You're ready to equip yourself with the best tools possible to get past impasse, so you make greater impact.
🦄 Behind the myth of a unicorn startup is burnout.
👉 But burning out doesn’t have to be your destiny when you are wizened to a few truths.
Here’s what went down in coaching today…
On Monday, I had the privilege of delivering one of the most fun and interactive self-advocacy workshops I've done in person -- "Negotiate WAY Better" as one of the key workshops at Project 1490's "Badassery in the Berkshires" retreat for executive women.
Celebrating my client who earned a promotion to Senior Manager at her AI startup, along with a $25K raise. Despite facing doubts due to her age and gender, she redefined authority and proved her capability. Here’s what we did in coaching…
My client received an incomplete email about a time-sensitive project from one of her direct reports. Her response requesting the missing information was met with a terse and defensive reply.
Moments like these have her feeling tension behind her eyes and wondering:
Why is my team so mediocre?
Is it me? Am I doing something wrong?
Can I keep growing my career if I struggle with people like this?
When my clients tell me how they spin out in anxious rumination or freeze up without speaking up in large meetings -- I know it ain't because they haven't tried hard enough.
Learn how to confidently handle inappropriate questions with sample scripts. Whether it's unconscious bias or office politics, discover how to rise above, protect your peace, and reinforce your leadership. Book a free 1:1 consultation today and get the support you need to thrive with self-assurance, regardless of who's asking weird questions.
