I must have a face that reads, “Come and deliver me from my ills” because  over the past four companies I’ve worked for I’ve had interactions with women executives that frequently come in my office (or theirs when I’m there) and confide in me some of the problems they perceive themselves as having.   I say “perceive” because in most instances, I’m only hearing one side of the story.

Many years ago, I had a Vice President of Human Resources tell me she didn’t feel she wasn’t getting a fair shake with the executive group at the company because she was a woman.   She said that I (at a position one level below VP at the time) had a much better chance of influencing the CEO and other Sr. VPs  simply because of the fact that I was a man.

Over a decade later, I recently had a similar interaction with yet another woman in a completely different company, industry, location and I am hearing a very similar story.  I’ve heard many stories like that in the years in between from women that were staff trying to get ahead to women that were executives STILL not happy where they were at in the company.

This may sound a bit sexist but I am seriously beginning to wonder if women know what they really want when they climb the corporate ladder.  What do you ladies think “the top” is supposed to be?  What type of panacea do women imagine getting to when they reach the executive floor?

Here’s what I tell these broads, “Hey baby, don’t you worry your pretty little face about it.  Now go powder your nose and fetch me some coffee.”

Okay that’s not really what I tell women -that was a joke before you send me any hate mail.

Here’s the kicker, I hear the exact same complaints from EVERYONE (including men).   I’ve heard it from black men who think they’re not getting a fair shake, I’ve heard it from Asians who don’t think they’re getting a fair shake, I’ve heard it from white men who think they’re being reverse discriminated against.  It never ends!

Here’s the ugly truth.  If you SERIOUSLY want to climb to the top, you better be prepared for the following:

1. Be prepared to fly all over the world at a moments notice.

2. Be prepared to fly to the nastiest places on earth not just Paris and London or other exotic locations.  Oh yeah, you might get shot at or blown up.

3. Be prepared to take assignments that no one else wants.

4. Be prepared to spend countless hours away from family and friends for the sake of a project that will probably be decommissioned or tossed in the trash in just a few short years from now.

5. Be prepared to to absorb the work of others at the last minute.

6. Be prepared and navigate through the worst backstabbing politics*

7. Be prepared for sleepless nights and stress knowing that if you fail, many people will suffer and lose their jobs or livelihoods.

8. Be prepared to have all of your work commandeered by other executives when things go well and vilified when it goes bad.

9. Be prepared to sacrifice nearly anything that a company wants you to sacrifice because you want to climb ahead (holidays, vacations, family birthdays, ANYTHING).

10. Be prepared to have your ass kicked out the door after committing yourself for years to an organization because the market turned sour.

Unfortunately, all the people that I mentioned just didn’t have what it took to succeed at the top and that was their common trait.   Most of those people reached a stage of  “entitlement” whereby they felt they’ve “put in their due” and expected to coast the of their career but it doesn’t ever happen like that -EVER.

Tomorrow I’m writing about what very few are writing about – the WOMEN that betrayed other WOMEN in the Tiger Woods scandal.