"Knowing that a colleagues makes more than you should prompt you to ask your boss what it is that you're doing or not doing that keeps you at a lower pay, and y

"Knowing that a colleagues makes more than you should prompt you to ask your boss what it is that you're doing or not doing that keeps you at a lower pay, and your boss should be able to tell you exactly why you're paid less." This assumes that your boss is rewarded for keeping you happy. In my org, we use a form of stack ranking; so my boss just gives whoever he likes the highest rank. Everyone else gets a COL raise. My boss is rewarded for being a tough negotiator with vendors and staff; that makes his boss happy. And my boss, despite his lack of self-awareness, isn't technical in any way. So he has no ability to either direct my work, or to judge it in a technical manner. This limits his ability to tell me exactly why I'm paid less. He's a typical middle manager who's more of a negotiator than a technical manager. Yet he holds my career in his hands.