????MPW內部網絡是一個邀請最有影響力的商界女性及時解答職業與領導力問題的在線社區。本周，我們的問題是：女性如何進入公司高層？以下是廣告公司Hill Holliday機構溝通業務副總裁特雷西?布雷迪的回答。

????我很幸運能在一家由女性領導的公司工作，而且她不是普通的女性。她在廣告業打拼三十多年，許多讀者可能知道，凱倫?卡普蘭從前臺接待成為公司董事長兼CEO。她非常聰明，知識淵博，經驗豐富，對我們的行業有深入了解，我每天都在向她學習。

????但我認為職場女性（以及男性）有時候會忘了自己可以（并且應該）向公司各級別的所有人學習。學習經驗或汲取教訓。學習如何提高工作效率，如何更高效。沒錯，還要學習如何更有政治智慧。更不用說如何在管理中做到有為，還有更重要的是如何做到“無為而治”。女性通往高層的道路與男性截然不同，尤其是對于職場媽媽們而言（她們的情況往往更加復雜）。

????我工作了20多年，有了孩子之后，職業經歷了變化，并且搬到了美國的另一邊。與許多職場媽媽們一樣，在努力工作的同時，我還要應付孩子們的玩耍約會、足球訓練、夏令營、暴躁的脾氣還有頭虱。那時候，我根本沒有時間去規劃自己的職業發展道路。我還沒有進入高層，但在那段時間，我學會了如何讓職業保持向上發展，盡管會有一些“并發癥”——事實上，有些“并發癥”有時候反而會促進職業發展：

????自信是不可取代的

????正如BBC新聞主播、《自信代碼》（The Confidence Code）一書的作者凱蒂?凱伊所說，男性與女性的信心差距是真實存在的。自信并不意味著夸夸其談，吹噓或故意歪曲自己的能力（雖然這樣做有時候確實會獲得成功）。自信是指熟悉自己的能力、經驗和成就，并抓住每一次合適的機會展示自己。如果你正在要求升職，坦誠解釋自己為什么應該得到升職。設想可能遇到的阻力——在進行談判之前做好充分準備，用沉著自信的職業方式進行談判，不要情緒化。

????做真實的自己。

????我的意思是做人要誠實。做真實的自己。不要模仿別人去發展自己或自己的職業。認識到自己的價值，以及自己的局限性和可以改進的地方。你可以對當權者說出自己的真實想法，但要有禮有節，不卑不亢，采用職業的方式，并且只能在合適的時間。

????選擇（并留在）適合自己的地方

????這一條借鑒自公司的CEO，因為我對此也深信不疑。我曾在一家公司度過了痛苦的四年，我能從直覺上感覺到我并不適合那里。那是我職業生涯中最漫長的四年，而且他們肯定也不好過。如果一個地方的文化與你自己的價值觀和理念相一致，你便更有可能得到發展。當你在工作中感到快樂的時候，你就會變成更優秀的職場女性——乃至更好的母親、妻子、同事和朋友。

????MPW Insider is one of several online communities where the biggest names in business answer timely career and leadership questions. Today’s answer for: How can women rise to the C-suite? is written by Tracy Brady, VP of Agency Communications for Hill Holliday.

????I am fortunate to work at a company run by a woman, and not just any woman. She’s been a force at our ad agency for over thirty years, and as many of your readers probably know, Karen Kaplan rose from receptionist to Chairman and CEO. As you’d expect, she is bright, savvy, seasoned, and deeply knowledgeable about our business, and I learn from her every day.

????But I think what working women (and men) sometimes forget is that you can (and should) learn from everyone, at every level, at your company. Good lessons and bad. Strategies for being more productive, more efficient and yes, sometimes, more political. Not to mention, how to manage and perhaps even more important, how NOT to manage. Women have a different journey than men when rising to the C-suite and it’s particularly different (and arguably more complicated) if they are raising children.

????I’ve been working for over 20 years, and my career shifted when I had children and moved across the country. Like all working mothers, at any given moment I juggle playdates, soccer practice, summer camp, tantrums, and yes, head lice, along with work responsibilities. I don’t have much time to plot out my career path these days. I’m not in the C-suite yet, but there are a few things I’ve learned about how to keep my career climbing, sort of, despite – indeed sometimes because of – complications:

????There is no substitute for confidence

????As argued by Katty Kay, BBC News anchor and co-author of The Confidence Code, the confidence gap between men and women is real. Confidence does not mean bragging, being a blowhard or deliberately misrepresenting your abilities (although we’ve all seen that work too). It means being intimately familiar with your talents, experience and accomplishments, and seizing every appropriate opportunity to showcase them. If you are negotiating for a promotion, be comfortable talking about how you’ve earned it. Anticipate pushback – and go into the meeting prepared, with a calm, confident, and professional approach removed from emotion.

????Be authentic

????And by that I mean be honest. Be true to yourself. Don’t model yourself or your career based on anyone else. Recognize your value, but also your limitations and where you can improve. You can speak truth to power, but do it respectfully and professionally, with humility and grace and only when appropriate.

????Go (and stay) where you are celebrated

????I’m borrowing this one from our CEO because I believe it deeply. I once spent four miserable years at a company where I intuitively knew the fit wasn’t right. They were the longest four years of my career, and I’m sure it was no picnic for them either. When the culture of a place aligns with your own values and ideas, you are much more likely to thrive. And when you’re happy at work, you’re a better worker – not to mention a better mother, wife, colleague and friend.