Five Truths about Women, Negotiation & Money

 

No economic skill has as much riding on it  as does negotiation

~Leigh Thompson, Northwester University

Women and Money

This is especially true for women – research shows that in simple negotiations – like a salary or a car negotiation – women do worse than men. Two things most women will negotiate several times in their lives!

The Hard Truth:

Negotiation is about an exchange of value, and historically women have not had their own economic value to exchange, with two exceptions (and oldest “professions”: Mom, and well, you know the other one).

Plus, the idea of “negotiation” turns many women off – the models for negotiating appear too masculine, or aggressive. Research supports this; re-frame “negotiation” into “opportunities for asking” and women fare better.

The Good Truth:

Negotiation is a learnable skill, both art and science. The same research showed that when women are empowered with the skills and knowledge, they can negotiate results as good as or better than men. Women tend to be inherently more adept at listening, empathizing with others; connecting and building relationships – all skills that are fundamental in negotiating effectively.

When women are empowered to see these “feminine” skills as valuable, they do better.

The Long Truth:

Negotiating is also a way of life; standing up for what is important to you (including your ability to help others).

Fundamentally negotiating is about asking for what you want, influencing others to cooperate with you, and as importantly, it’s about saying “no” to what you don’t want & negotiating something better.

Other Hard Truths:

The biggest challenge for women is negotiating for themselves – and surprisingly this includes high-level executive and professionals who negotiate for a living. Some barriers that cause this difference include messages about what a woman “should be” or can be; about money and who should make it, manage it and keep it. We have some work as a society to help change these expectations of both women and men.

Here’s the critical factor that bottom-lines Leigh Thompson’s quote from the introduction: women have a longer-term economic and financial life span than men. Not only is a woman expected to live longer, but 60 is now the new 40 and many women are bearing and raising children later in life. Tolerating gender pay inequity and getting paid less than you are worth is not a viable strategy.

The good news is that women everywhere are waking up. Women in the public eye, celebrities like Robin Wright are taking their pay equity issues public.

Organizations are losing talented women in their 30s when gender pay practices are revealed as less that equal.

More than ever, its time for a woman to ride her own white horse – take the reins and be a “Gallant Leader” in your own life!

Negotiate your best life; manage your own economic well-being. If you’ve ever been on a trail ride, you know the best thing about riding your own white horse is riding the trail with those you love!

If you’re looking to expand your negotiation skill set, mindset and action set, check out the upcoming Professional Negotiation and Influencing program in Vancouver June 16-17. Grab your copy of the complimentary Gallant Negotiator Blueprint.

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