Women have unique advantages as negotiators. The key for women to be successful negotiators is to learn how to best leverage those advantages.
Compared with men, women tend to be more cooperative, empathetic and ethical, traits that are linked with an increase in long-term value for companies.
Experts in this area, believe these traits also make women highly effective problem solvers.
There was a research study from the University of California that came to the conclusion that women excel at generating goodwill through problem-solving. The researchers found that women possess unique advantages as negotiators, including greater cooperativeness and stronger ethics – strengths that are often overlooked or severely undervalued by corporations.
Studies also show how women negotiators tend to suffer from gender bias. In other words, when women try to negotiate like men through a more assertive approach, they are often penalized.
So what’s the work around?
Negotiation analysts recommend that women don’t call a negotiation a negotiation. Rather, call it a problem-solving exercises to reduce the impact of any gender bias other parties may be consciously or unconsciously acting on and focus on clear communication and empathy, areas where women typically outperform men.
This works because women bring problem-solving skills and personality traits to the table that make them highly effective negotiators.
Some feel women can engage in a successful negotiation without triggering backlash by balancing assertiveness with empathy. Being assertive involves understanding and advocating for your own needs while understanding and protecting your own boundaries.
Women have also been encouraged to increase the odds of getting what they want by pointing out how their requests would benefit the organization rather than just themselves. This approach can work because it conforms to the gender stereotype that women are particularly concerned about others.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers Negotiation Skills Training for Women, a 2-day course that covers the techniques, skills, and tools women need in order to have a successful negotiation.
Participants will learn strategies and techniques on how to confidently and strongly negotiate in order to have a successful career.
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.