The Tips, Skills, and Tools you Need to Negotiate Effectively

Negotiating skills are a nonnegotiable requirement for success, but few people understand the structures, techniques and approaches available to them in an attempt to gain successful results. Effective negotiation means more than just getting what you want. It means arriving at a solution that satisfies all parties and creates future opportunities. Fine tune your communication style. Listening is a key part of effective communication. What is and is not said is key during negotiations and in building professional relationship. Establish an assertive approach, communicate in a clear fashion, remain professional, be patient, try to avoid aggressive behaviors. Neutralize objectives presented by the counterpart and negotiate with confidence.

Being aggressive means standing up for yourself in ways that violate the rights of others.
Aggressive behavior is typically punishing, hostile, blaming, and demanding. It can involve threats, name-calling, and even actual physical contact. It can also involve sarcasm, catty comments, gossip and "slips of the tongue." Negotiation training will give you the crucial negotiation skill, strategies, tools and techniques you must have to effectively handle negotiations ranging from sales, contract, labor and business negotiations, to international negotiations involving business and political conflict to all varieties of personal negotiations.

Negotiation Tips and Goals

1. Improve personal and professional profitability.
2. Achieve desired outcomes and create synergy while fostering relationships.
3. Maximize financial returns and value in negotiations.
4. Avoid being cheated.
5. Neutralize difficult negotiators and their tactics.
6. Enter into and conduct negotiations with confidence.
7. Know when and how to walk away from a negotiation.
8. Improve personal relationships with colleagues, clients and loved ones.
9. Build leadership and team building skills.
10. Turn cultural differences into assets rather than liabilities.
Strategic thinking and planning is pivotal to your success in this business climate.

Bad Men You Should Avoid When Dating

Women always say, “I didn’t know he was like that” when their boyfriends perform acts that cause everyone around them shame. In some cases they really weren’t aware of the boyfriend’s mischievous deeds, but in other cases women knew well in advance they just hoped he would stop.

Most women are not stupid, gullible, dumb, or any other name critics choose to call them for the selections in men they make. For some, they truly had no idea their boyfriend meant bad news for them. The ever-popular question of, “Why did she get herself involved with him anyway?” continues to loom over their heads and the reasons vary depending on whom you ask. Some women may have found out about their problem boyfriend and stayed because of love, status, money and/or power. Others may have stayed because they didn’t want to carry the guilt of leaving their children’s father over issues they feel could be resolved. Still many women feel they can change him. As long as women continue to believe that the power of sex, money, counseling, personal sacrifice or a host of other strategies to change a bad man will work, they will continue to subject themselves to mental and physical abuse. These strategies simply will never work for some men. There comes a time when women will have to get off their knees whether she is praying to God or pleading to her mate to change. She will have to stand up carrying her self-respect in hand and walk right through the door of “end the relationship now.”

The following advice is written for women who haven’t yet made a commitment or a baby with a “bad boy.” She may be struggling with whether she is ready to settle down with him, distance herself from him or keep him as a friend. Although the best advice is not to offer to carry him or his burdens and just leave him alone, there will be those women who will still stay. If those women choose to stay, they have committed themselves to a hard life of many restless nights, aches and pains at times mentally and/or physically and they most likely will past negative behaviors to their future children and their children.

The Liar – In the beginning of the relationship, you caught him in a few white lies. He had what seemed like convincing excuses; therefore you let him get away with them. Now the lying has increased and the excuses have become minimal if not at all. Actions you may want to consider are the following: Approach him not only with what you think, but what you know; in other words have proof. Stop taking his lying lightly. Let him know that this behavior you will not accept any longer. If he chooses to continue lying, then tell him you will have to end the relationship for good. Once you have made a decision that you are leaving, begin to make efforts to not be contacted by him (change your cell phone number, block his email address, put places you hang out frequently on hold, and avoid telling mutual friends about your personal whereabouts, thoughts and feelings. You must not leave and then go back to him, he will only get better about lying to you over time.

The Player also known as The Pimp – This man is obsessed with being contacted or making contact with the opposite sex. He will use cell phone, email, your house phone or friends to make contact with whomever he meets. He will leave a trail of evidence whether it is the popular piece of paper that slips out of his pocket with a phone number without a name, restaurant receipts, hotel charges, cologne or jewelry gifts, read and sent email that sits in his account that he forgot to delete. He begins to create a pattern in his actions when you have become old and someone else becomes new. Look out for this repetitious pattern. He may develop his pattern after work on a daily basis working later and later nights at the office then when he comes home he is providing almost too much detail about what happened at work or not at all. Another pattern he may create may be choosing a hobby or interest that is very unusual to his personality and attending this faithfully, what you can do to find out if he is sincere is offer to pick him up from the pottery class on some nights. Watch his reaction. There may also be the weekend pattern of always “needing to get away, have some time to myself, or I’m so busy with errands.” All the while making little or no time for the two of you to go out and be seen together. When you suggest new places to visit, he finds an excuse to take you to the same area you both are familiar to keep from running into the other woman or women. He finds a way, anyway, to travel to places without you regularly using an excuse such as “I’m going to my mother’s house or hanging out with Rick, Joe or someone you never heard of Frank.” Be careful family and friends will cover for him. He will call you, at times when he knows you are out and about to see if you will be in the proximity where he will be entertaining the other woman or women. He is protective of his cell phone and his computer; if you tried to check either it maybe password protected. You may want to consider whether having to worry over your man’s whereabouts is worth all of this aggravation. In time, you will become insecure, angry for no apparent reason, and develop a since of distrust toward everyone you meet. This is baggage you don’t need.

The Thief – He has been around when things go missing. At first you didn’t suspect him and thought items had just been misplaced or he blamed someone else for taking them. Yet, you have always had a funny feeling in your gut that he was the one who made off with your dad’s tools, took your favorite CD, helped himself to some cash sitting around, and other important items. It is time to come up with a plan, set him up. The kind of plan you come up with can’t be easily figured out by him and if you sincerely want your restless conscience to be at peace, then go to great lengths to figure out whether he is trustworthy. Time is money and the longer you stay with him, the more items will go missing.

The Hustler – He is always thinking of a way to separate people from their money illegally. From identity theft to standing on the street corner selling drugs, he always has a knot of money and doesn’t mind living lavishly. Now you may think that what he has told you about his daytime job is paying the bills, but the truth of the matter that job didn’t pay for the designer clothing and expensive jewelry you wear; instead it was the second one you may or may not know about. This man is dangerous. He has enemies and one day some one will catch up with him, you or anyone who associates with either of you, and the sight won’t be pretty. You must ask yourself this question, is he worth putting your life and everyone else’s lives around you in danger?

The Abuser/Controller – You can never do anything right. He is often critical, walks around with an attitude and every opportunity he has alone he wants you to stop living your world to be with him. In the beginning of the relationship, you justified his negative personality with excuse after excuse. Whether he is physically ill, illiterate, disabled or mentally disturbed and on medication, you have a right to explain how you feel about him to him. You may have done this already and got knocked to the ground whether verbally or physically. You may have told yourself that things will get better and he is making an effort to change. Well that is good if he is sincere about becoming a better man; however, he can make those strides without you living with him and subjecting yourself to his name calling, mood swings, choking, punching, and grabbing. There are no rewards in heaven given to women who allow themselves to be abused by men. There was only one Christ in the Holy Bible and you are not He. (Read more about the abuser in an article I wrote entitled, “How To Know Your Boyfriend Is Abusive” at this site.)

The Mooch – You have invited him once again on an outing and he never has any money in his wallet. During inopportune times, he says he needs to stop at the ATM and you know there is none even close to where the two of you are located. When he offers to take you out, he usually picks a place that he doesn’t have to pay much (despite the fact that when it was on your tab he ordered steak and another time lobster!) He drives your car and doesn’t fill it up, when you mention it; he finally puts some gas in the tank -- a measly $5 or $10. Holidays come and go with very little if any acknowledgement from him. Yet, you bought him (and possibly his relatives) really nice gifts whether it was a holiday or not. He displays affection, says all the right things, and listens to your concerns only when he knows he needs something from you. If you choose to continue a relationship with this man you have options and they are as follows. You could stop being so generous and treat him how he treats you. For example, when you invite him out, treat him to the kind of places he takes you. Put a limit on how often he drives your car. Avoid helping him when he is in a bind since you know he won’t help you. Make yourself unavailable to run errands for him and anyone associated with him (that includes his children by a previous relationship, his mother, sister or brother.) If he begins to see you are no fool, he won’t continue to run over you and will grow to appreciate you. However, if he doesn’t you will be making it easy for him to walk away from you without you having to break up with him.

The Drunk/ Drug Abuser – How many times have you seen him intoxicated or using drugs? Is he fun, angry, disgusting or depressed afterward? Are most of the relationship problems you have been facing associated with this type of behavior? If so, then you will have to consider whether or not you will help him get counseling from a distance, continue to live with him and endure the abuse, leave him alone altogether or create an intervention for him that includes a professional counselor, family and friends who have all been affected by his negative ways. If he consistently refuses help, then for your own sanity and safety, leave him alone.

Spirituality Information: God, Life and Love are Interchangable

Your spiritual growth is not a static event; it is an on-going process. Once you are locked into the process you begin to receive spirituality information through a variety of sources.

Spirituality, as a concept, is not an external manifestation of our beliefs or an explanation of how we express ourselves in physical form. Spirituality is internal and eternal. Spirituality is our interconnectedness with all of life, the physical, the nonphysical and the metaphysical. It is an interconnectedness that begins by knowing who you really are and creating life from that point of awareness.

Spirituality is life itself, revealing itself to you. Replace the word “life” in the last sentence with the word “God” and you will begin to understand the deeper part of the life (God) process. You see, God, life and love are interchangeable.

If you have a misunderstanding about this essential part of life's (God's, love's) equation, then you will be throwing your whole life (God, love) experience into a perspective that is not in alignment with the true nature of how things work.

Think about these concepts. What if you started your whole life experience on a foundation of sand? What if the basic concepts and beliefs that you have lived your whole life by were not based in essential truths about the true nature of how the universe works? What if your core values and life perspectives were not designed to serve you in your quest to be the grandest vision of yourself? What if most of what you believe about the life process is based in fear? What if living within this paradigm of fear has kept you from viewing life another way that might actually serve you better?

Now let us try this sentence again and substitute the word “God” for “life.”

Just think about these concepts. What if you started your whole God experience on a foundation of sand? What if the basic concepts and beliefs that you have “Goded” your whole life by were not based in essential truths about the true nature of how the universe works? What if your core values and God perspectives were not designed to serve you in your quest to be the grandest vision of yourself? What if most of what you believe about the God process is based in fear? What if living within this paradigm of fear has kept you from viewing God another way that might serve you better?

Now let us try it with the word “love.”

Just think about these concepts. What if you started your whole love experience on a foundation of sand? What if the basic concepts and beliefs that you have loved your whole life by were not based in essential truths about the true nature of how the universe works? What if your core values and love perspectives were not designed to serve you in your quest to be the grandest vision of yourself? What if most of what you believe about the love process is based in fear? What if living within this paradigm of fear has kept you from viewing love another way that might serve you better?

Wouldn't it behoove you to really understand the true nature of how things work? If you really understood the true nature of how things work in this universe, then you would be able to align with that understanding and bring into your life that which you truly desire.

Your spiritual growth requires you to seek clarity on the interconnectedness of all of life. Not just the physical universe but also the unseen metaphysical aspects of the nature of our being. It is truly a grand quest and one that is not only soulfully fulfilling but also one that is guaranteed to improve your life and the world we live in.

The Magic of Love

Would you like to receive the magic of love? Are you willing to give it? Try this: For one day, consciously make an effort to be loving or kind to everyone you see, with no expectations of receiving anything in return.

For example, compliment, acknowledge, or smile at people at work, home, on the street, and in the stores. Notice how you feel at the end of the day. Your heart will probably feel warmer and bigger. The loving action can make their day as well as yours. It is likely that the people you touch with the magic of love will pass it on to others. You will never know for sure how many people's lives you have touched with these simple, free, kind acts. Just trust that you are making a difference.

It worked for my client Jerry, a thirty-six-year-old computer engineer. He was surprised when I suggested that he try the experiment. The lonely, single man was complaining to me that people are so mean and nasty. Obviously, Jerry had low self-esteem and poor relationship skills.

I said, "Jerry, are you willing to go to work tomorrow with a smile, and acknowledge and compliment people? I do not mean to make up remarks. Just look for something true and positive to say to your boss and co-workers. Notice how you feel and how they respond."

The following week, Jerry walked into my office with a smile on his face. That was the first time I saw that happy expression since his first counseling session. As soon as he sat down, Jerry exclaimed, "It worked, Helene! It was amazing! I did what you suggested and everyone responded back in a positive way. The whole office felt different, and now I look forward to going to work. That is a miracle!"

I congratulated Jerry for offering the magic of love, and acknowledged his courage and progress. This seemed to be a turning point in his life. I continued to help him feel good about himself with the HART process (Holistic And Rapid Transformation), and improve his communication skills. Before long, he started to date and enjoy social activities.

I have also had great success with the magic of love. When I lived in the country, I used to take regular walks on the dirt road. I smiled and thought the words "Bless you" as I waved at every car that drove by. Almost everyone responded by sending me back a warm smile and wave. It felt so good to spread caring. What a wonderful world this would be if everyone realized the importance of and took the time to spread the magic of love.