Unapologetically ambitious: 5 habits that can help women in finance move ahead

By Brandi Britton, Global Executive Director, Contract Finance and Accounting, Robert Half

“Ambitious” should be a compliment. It describes someone focused on success and determined to overcome challenges to achieve their goals. But it’s also one of the most loaded words for women in finance and accounting—and many other professional fields as well. That’s because “ambitious” too often gets translated into “too much,” “too direct” or “not a team player,” even when it’s generally praised as a leadership quality.

International Women’s Day, as part of Women’s History Month, is a fitting time to reflect on this, and to state plainly that ambition is a positive force women should fully embrace as they work to define and achieve their professional goals. More than that, it’s something they should practice with intention by being “unapologetically ambitious.”

This means focusing on excellence while also being proactive about doing their part to make the next step in their career happen. In finance and accounting, strong performance is often the baseline for success, not the differentiator. If women in finance want to grow their careers, they need to make their contributions easy to see and their goals easy to support. It starts by building a few repeatable habits.

5 unapologetically ambitious habits that can help women in finance move ahead

Negotiate compensation with purpose
Keep your receipts on performance
Raise your visibility at the right moments
Ask for stretch work, not just more work
Target your next role from a place of readiness

Negotiate compensation with purpose

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In compensation discussions, many women will accept the first figure an employer offers. They treat the initial proposal as a final verdict, then try to “earn” what they really want later through extra effort.

This is risky. When you become indispensable in your current role, it can be harder to convince your manager to move you out of it. It can also limit your earning potential over time. Negotiation has a cumulative effect. If colleagues consistently ask for more while you simply say thank you and hope for a better result next time, the gap widens over time.

Treat compensation conversations as a normal part of your overall career management. Ask questions. Request context. Share your rationale. Don’t be afraid to ask for more, whether you’re discussing pay, title alignment, job scope or what “next” means for your career with the organization.

Tie compensation requests to your contributions and market realities, and connect promotions to responsibilities you’ve already taken on or are ready to own. You don’t have to win every point to benefit from asking. The point is to build the habit of advocating for yourself early and often.

Understand the latest compensation trends for finance and accounting with the 2026 Salary Guide From Robert Half.

Keep your receipts on performance

If performance reviews or promotion conversations make you scramble to remember what you recently accomplished, you’re not alone. Most people can easily recall the last few weeks in detail but the last six months can be a blur. The fix is simple, and it’s one of the highest-return habits you can build: Keep a running record of what you deliver.

You can keep your “receipts” as notes on your phone, a document on your laptop or a folder in your email. The format matters less than consistency. Each week or month, capture what you did, why it mattered and what improved because you did it. Examples could include process improvements, errors prevented, cycle times reduced, stakeholder wins, controls strengthened, audit readiness, better forecasting inputs, fewer escalations or cleaner handoffs.

Maintaining a record of your contributions provides:

Proof when it’s time to ask for more responsibility, a higher salary or a different role

A clear, chronological performance story that helps others see your growth and range

A more straightforward way to speak about the value you bring because you’re relying on specifics, not memory or emotion

Raise your visibility at the right moments

Many women have been conditioned to think twice before speaking up. Some worry about being labeled “aggressive” when they’re trying to be assertive. That concern is understandable, and in many workplaces, it’s real. But holding back in key conversations is also risky if you want to grow your career.

Being visible—and heard—at work doesn’t mean dominating conversations. It’s about choosing moments to contribute with purpose. Come prepared to meetings with 1-2 points you want to make, a question you want to ask or a risk you want to flag. If you have a recommendation, state it simply and back it with data or experience. If you disagree, focus on what you’d do differently and why.

If this feels uncomfortable, practice first. Rehearse what you want to say before a meeting. Write it down. Say it out loud. Record yourself if that helps. Start speaking up in smaller settings where you can build confidence in sharing your insights and suggestions.

Ask for stretch work, not just more work

High performers in finance and accounting often get rewarded with more—that is, more tasks and more requests that expand your to-do list but not your influence. If you want career growth, ask for stretch assignments that can help you build the skills and experience needed in the next role you’re targeting.

Instead of saying, “I can take on more,” be specific about what you want to own and include a brief reason that ties to business needs. For example:

“I’d like to lead process improvement for X so we can reduce rework and speed up the cycle.”

“I’d like to own the stakeholder relationship for Y because I’m already the day-to-day point of contact and I can improve responsiveness and follow-through.”

“I’d like to be the point person on the control redesign for Z because I understand where the current process breaks down and I can help tighten execution.”

These are the kinds of assignments statements that can help women in finance build leadership skills. They also provide more “receipts” to add to your running record on performance.

If you’re not sure what to request, look at the role above you and identify responsibilities you don’t currently own. Then, choose 1-2 that align with your strengths and interests. Growth is easier when you can home in precisely on the work you want to do and ask for it directly.

Target your next role from a place of readiness

When you’re working toward a promotion, don’t lead with the desire to move up. Lead with capability. Be able to describe the role you’re pursuing in plain terms: what it’s responsible for, what problems it solves for the business and what success looks like. Then help decision makers picture you in the role by:

Explaining how you’re already doing meaningful parts of the job in your current position and offering to share examples

Noting that while you don’t yet have all the skills and experience the job requires, you have a plan to close the gaps

In either case, frame the potential promotion around what the team needs and describe how taking on that job would help you deliver it.

Learn about in-demand roles and hiring trends in finance and accounting in 2026.

A conversation that can change everything

For women in finance and accounting, and any other professional field, being unapologetically ambitious largely comes down to being more direct. It includes asking your manager critical questions many high performers avoid because they assume their work will speak for itself: What does the next level require? Which skills, responsibilities or scope changes would demonstrate readiness? What timeline is realistic?

Don’t assume your manager will connect every dot for you. Finance and accounting leaders are focused on a host of strategic priorities and critical deadlines at any given time. Communication can get short, expectations can remain unspoken, and feedback or recognition, including praise, can come late. That doesn’t mean your manager doesn’t value your contributions. It means you can’t rely on hints and hope to drive your career forward.

Ask for specifics on how you can move ahead. If you discover a clear path isn’t there because there’s no budget, timeline or willingness to invest, consider that progress, too. That insight can help you decide if it’s time to let your ambition lead you—unapologetically—in a new direction.

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