Being Indispensable

Today's episode is a road rambling sharing some of the points I presented to an audience of Executive Assistants at a conference in Sydney run by Intrepid Minds. The topic was negotiating skills and strategies.  It's common for people to think about negotiation as it applies to the job hunt process. Negotiating salary and benefits or alternatively negotiating salary increases or role changes with your employer.  We also negotiate with co workers and peers about the distribution of tasks, due dates, deadlines, needing something from someone else so we can get something done…this takes communication skills and an ability to negotiate and engage in crucial conversations. In this episode I share the thinking and research of Margaret Neale from Stanford University who encourages us to think about negotiation as a process and that the goal is not to get a deal, it's to get a good deal.  Four steps to achieving a successful negotiation: Assess - is it worth it Prepare - know yourself, know the other person Ask -