By Randi Zuckerberg

At the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing on Thursday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella put his foot in his mouth when asked about the gender pay gap in Silicon Valley. Asked about how women should approach asking for a raise, he replied that women need to “have faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along … that’s good karma.” (Watch the full video here.) The comments are particularly offensive because just last week Microsoft disclosed the ethnicity and gender breakdown of its workforce, which shows that only 29 percent of all employees are women. That figure falls to just over 17 percent women in both technical positions and leadership roles.

His stumble definitely seems to reveal a glaring gender bias and we need to take stock of the systemic practices at the workplace that continue to let this happen. According to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau issued last month, American women make 78 cents to their male counterparts’ dollar. They will lose almost half a million dollars over the course of their careers in wage disparity. I feel strongly about changing these statistics, which is why I joined the public board of the Professional Diversity Network, a company that works with Fortune 500 companies to increase the number of women and minorities in the workforce.

I went on CNN on Friday to address Nadella’s remarks and share my suggestions on how women can—and should—negotiate and ask for raises. Here are my top pieces of advice:

-The most important time to negotiate is when you first start the job. Never settle for the original job offer presented. There’s always wiggle room somewhere, whether it’s on base salary, a signing bonus, stock/equity, or budget for travel or education. Negotiating your entry point is crucial because it sets a benchmark for how much your company values you.

-If you’re asking for a raise, make sure your ask is based in numbers and data, not emotions. Come armed with data points on how you over-delivered on expectations and how that benefitted the business, as well as market data that shows what someone in your role should be earning. This speaks much louder than saying, “I work hard and put a lot of effort into my job and deserve a raise.” You need data that can’t be argued with in the real world.

-Make sure you win the hearts of your peers, not just your boss. More and more companies are doing 360 degree performance reviews, where multiple people you work with weigh in on your performance. So make sure you’re not sacrificing relationships with your team members just to win favor with your boss, because that could be reflecting in your next raise or performance review.

Hopefully this slip-up will encourage leaders like Nadella to take a hands-on role in making sure that all women, at Microsoft and elsewhere, receive equal pay for equal work. We need allies at the top, who can implement new reforms from the top down, and set an example for other major companies.

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