Courageous leaders negotiate differently!

I had an incredible experience last week facilitating business negotiation skills workshops for a client. When first asked to undertake this project I declined because I believed that I did not negotiate and cringed at the use of the word. Courageous leaders do not negotiate...........this was the inner chatter in my head and yet upon reflection and challenge I realised that courageous leaders DO negotiate and so did I - just on different terms to that of the stereotype I had in my head about what constituted an effective negotiatior! My upbringing in business had lead me to believe that an effective negotiator was aggressive, kept information and needs close to their chest, played manipulative games and walked out with the knowledge they had WON and the other person had lost! And this was not what I did and it was not what I ever wanted to do!This experience has allowed me to recognise that I am a great negotiator but that I do it with my style and now I am proud to refer to this as the courageous negotiator. The courageous negotiator is transparent, gives information freely and with the intent of finding the best outcome for all parties because they believe so strongly that it is win-win or no deal. I also now know that my style is very much based on the wonderful movie called "Pay It Forward" and counter to what many effective negotiators believe I make widespread use of generosity. This has created great outcomes for me and for others involved in the negotiation. So for me I am eternally thankful to this client as I have now totally reframed myself and are proud to say that I AM a negotiator - a courageous negotiator!!!