The call you're supposed to ignore, and why the smartest women always take it

At 11:40 the morning after your best quarter yet, a number you don't recognize lights up your phone. You decline it. The voicemail is from a recruiter whose name you recognize, but she won't say what the role is in a message. You're 50, running operations as chief operating officer in everything but the title, in the year you spent a decade working toward. Your board values you. The CEO depends on you. The plan is on track. Your practical side wants that message gone, and by now you've already dismissed the previous three without a second thought.

You can see what the call is truly about. Recruiters in Portland want to know what your pay would need to be. What matters is whether you're willing to stay uninformed about that answer.

Option A. Let it ring

You close the message and get back to your desk. Its cost is subtle, yet it builds up over time. Recruiters maintain lists, and after three polite non-responses your name drifts to a different list, the one they stop calling. Those who can see what you produce are the ones who set what you're worth. Silence from recruiters usually means your profile isn't being noticed. This is the year you're performing best, which means it's the year your value is highest, and you've just chosen not to learn what that value is.

Option B. Accept the call purely to gather information.

Call back and say something that commits you to nothing: "I'm content where I am, but I always take these conversations. Tell me about the role, and if it's not right for me, I'll tell you who it might suit." The cost is thirty minutes and the slim chance you hear something you like. The payoff is a concrete number, a title, and a clearer picture of how the market sees you, often a level higher than your current employer does.

Option C. Run the full process

Go through the interviews during your strongest year, in a building where someone may eventually notice the Tuesday afternoons away from your desk. The cost is attention you can't spare, a loyalty question if word gets around, and the real chance of an offer you have to decide on. The payoff is leverage, and a straight answer to a question you've never asked aloud: what would it take to get me to leave?

Counsel from seasoned leaders in the Portland metro

Executives who have led large organizations are firm on this point: pick up the call. You don't have to intend to leave; the conversation simply tells you something, and taking it in costs you nothing. Deloitte's 2025 study of 7,500 women showed that a mere 5% planned to remain at their current company past five years. Women who made a smooth move were not simply eager for change. They knew their number before they needed it.

They also note that a recruiter can tell you what your manager never will: the role the market thinks you're suited for. Should the conversation involve a chief operating officer position while your current company still titles you a senior vice president, treat it as a signal and not a formal offer. It's a correction, and you can put it to work inside your own organization without leaving it.

The call

Option B, every time. It isn't really a decision. Think of it as a thirty-minute check on the market, since the women who take these calls are never blindsided about their worth, whether by their own estimate or anyone else's. Reserve Option C for the moment when the number leaves you speechless.

Your vote

Which would you choose: let it ring, take the call, or run the process? Cast your vote below. Next week we'll share the findings, including the figure that left most of you speechless.