In his “WalletPop” column for AOL, Ron Dicker poses a compelling scenario: “You find out that a work colleague with a similar title, duties and experience is making more money than you. A lot more. You can whine about it—or you can do something about it.” In our interview for his article, “What to Do When You Discover a Colleague Makes More Money,” I share “must do’s” to get the compensation you deserve. Advantages in this arena for introverts are our inclination to do our homework and think before we speak. If you’re inclined to ask your manager to bump up your pay, you’ll score more by doing your research, planning your approach—how and when to approach her, and role-playing with a trusted adviser before making a peep.

A colleague crows at you in a self-congratulatory tone, listing the mountains of achievement she’s climbed and minimizing yours as molehills. She uses “I” to punctuate the start of each sentence. She namedrops to further raise her status—and lower yours. Another colleague is the brains of the organization, but he gets drowned out when he pipes up at meetings. So his less gifted colleagues get the recognition and the compensation that he deserves.
You’ve heard of IQ and you may have heard of EQ, or emotional intelligence, too. Now for a new term: SPQ, or self-promotion intelligence. The term is definitely pop and meant to be fun, but your SPQ is also serious business when it comes to your career (even though the acronym also stands for Sweet Potato Queens!).

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