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.

If getting better paid and promoted were simply based on being excellent at what you do, you'd have been a millionaire CXO years ago.

So why shouldn't you be paid at the top of the pay range?