Negotiating skills aren’t only for salespeople or corporate deal-makers. Everyone, at some point, will need to know how to deal. The more you practice, the better you’ll become — as will the people you’re negotiating with. 

Many essential negotiation skills are the same leadership skills you’ve likely cultivated over the years. It’s just a matter of leveraging them to persuade your audience. 

The art of negotiation
Negotiation is a strategic dialogue where two or more parties aim to receive something — and they want to convince the listener to give it to them. Ultimately, the hope is that everyone walks away feeling good about the outcome. This means negotiations often end in compromise to ensure the results satisfy all parties.

Humans have always negotiated. It was an essential skill that ensured communities had enough resources to survive life-or-death challenges. A lot has changed over the last 200,000 years. In most cases, the consequences are less dire, but negotiation is still a big part of life.

Why are negotiation skills important?
While negotiations might seem limited to big decisions like international trade treaties or legal disputes, anytime you work to maintain a relationship through compromise, you’re negotiating.

Despite being a common occurrence, not everyone feels comfortable bargaining. A study of millennial workers found that 25% of new employees fail to negotiate a job offer because they don’t know how. But the same study found that, when new hires do bargain their salary, about 44% gain what they asked for and another 30% achieve a compromise.

But developing your negotiation skills doesn’t only improve your financial outlook. Becoming a better negotiator can help you:

Build confidence
Ensure everyone’s treated fairly
Improve your strategic planning skills