Not Bossy, Just a Boss - How to Negotiate as a Woman with Worthmore Strategies
Oct 16, 2024
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Catherine Valentine, founder of Worthmore Strategies, is a negotiation expert dedicated to empowering women. She shares why negotiation is crucial, especially for women who often face unique challenges. Catherine offers a step-by-step guide to effective negotiation, highlighting tailored strategies to combat societal biases. The discussion covers impactful salary negotiation tactics, the importance of a supportive boss, and various forms of compensation. With valuable resources and anecdotes, she inspires women to confidently advocate for their worth in the workplace.
Women face unique challenges in negotiation, making it crucial to equip them with tailored strategies for success.
Utilizing a relational ask framework can help women articulate their requests while minimizing potential backlash during negotiations.
Consistent negotiation for better compensation can lead to significant long-term financial gains, highlighting the importance of advocating for oneself.
Deep dives
The Importance of Negotiation for Women
Negotiation is a crucial skill for individuals seeking to improve their professional circumstances, especially for women who often face distinct challenges in the workplace. Research indicates that a significant percentage of women express fear about negotiating, with 73% admitting to feeling this way when advocating for themselves. Additionally, only 43% of women actively ask for raises, and many believe they must exert more effort than their male counterparts to receive equal recognition. This underscores the importance of equipping women with effective negotiation strategies to help them overcome these barriers and achieve their career goals.
Unique Negotiation Strategies
Effective negotiation requires understanding different strategies tailored specifically for women that mitigate the risk of backlash. One key approach involves using a relational ask, which combines past performance, future vision, and the specific ask in a structured way to foster collaboration. This format not only helps articulate the request clearly but also minimizes the chance of negative repercussions. Real-life examples, such as negotiating for flexible working hours or unique workplace benefits, illustrate how personalized requests can lead to successful negotiations.
Financial Implications of Negotiation
Negotiating for better compensation can have significant long-term financial benefits, potentially amounting to millions over a career. Women who negotiate effectively can increase their salaries exponentially; for instance, securing a 20% raise could yield an additional $1.3 million over a lifetime. Moreover, consistent negotiations can compound these gains, leading to even greater financial stability. This emphasizes the need for women to actively engage in salary negotiations, as the opportunity cost of not doing so can be staggering.
Addressing Gender Bias in Negotiation
Gender bias can create an additional layer of difficulty during negotiations, where women often experience backlash or are perceived unfavorably when advocating for themselves. Research shows that women may be viewed as less competent or too aggressive when they negotiate directly, which can deter them from pursuing raises or promotions. Furthermore, studies reveal significant discrepancies in benefits received by men compared to women, such as stock options and 401k matches. Addressing these biases entails not only advocating for oneself but also educating others about the systemic disparities at play in negotiation settings.
Building Collaborative Negotiation Environments
To foster a more equitable negotiating environment, companies are increasingly encouraged to provide training for both employees and managers. This creates an atmosphere where open communication regarding negotiation can flourish, highlighting the unique needs and aspirations of individuals. Workshops and resources can empower employees to negotiate effectively, while managers can learn how to better support and recognize the contributions of their teams. By focusing on collaboration, the workplace culture becomes more inclusive, ultimately benefiting the organization as a whole.
On today’s episode of Networth and Chill, I’m talking to Kathryn Valentine, founder of Worthmore Strategies & negotiation expert. Everyone knows, negotiation sucks, especially for women. Most negotiation strategies out there cater to men and can actually have negative outcomes for women! Kathryn walks us through why we should negotiate and even gives you a step by step guide of how to approach negotiation to give yourself the best shot of getting everything you want!