If you're like most people, you'd probably think that dominating the conversation in a negotiation is a sign you're 'winning'. I invite you to consider that the opposite is true. Instead of approaching a win/lose competitive mindset, what if I suggest you could get better results through a collaborative approach?

I used to buy into the myth that negotiation was about toughness... especially in trial advocacy. It took me many years to come back to myself and recognize the power in my innate strengths and feminine traits. Primary among those was the powerful impact of invoking empathy with intention and negotiations.

One of the shortest paths to empathy is truly listening to what people have to say. Listening with a view to understand and try to meet other party's needs. Understanding and sharing someone's perspective doesn't always come easy, especially when a relationship may be contentious. But making that effort will outweigh missing the opportunity to build on your relationship with the other person(s).

If we can place ourselves firmly in the shoes of another, understand their inner motivation, relate to their needs, and together identify a shared solution that is better than has been considered, the barriers of competition evaporate. The path to this result is through elevated active listening. 

In this episode. you'll discover the difference between passive and active listening. You'll uncover the secret sauce: elevated active listening and why it's such a game-changer. You'll also come away with hot tips on how to become a better listener.

From this place, it is possible to come up with creative, unanticipated solutions in a way that would not arise from a place of one-upmanship or competition. Superior negotiation should conclude with an alternative that is better than had been considered by either party. In my view, this is rarely possible from an adversarial inward-focused stance but is regularly achievable when invoking elevated active listening.

Be sure to grab my free ebook, No F.E.A.R Negotiating

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