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The Impact Personal Development has on Negotiation

65 the impact personal development has on negotiation

Did you know that mastering the negotiation process begins by having a deep understanding of yourself? Do you understand the importance of investing in personal development? Anthony Sarandrea—the guest on episode 140 of the Negotiations Ninja podcast—points out that you have to KNOW yourself to succeed in this field.

Invest in Personal Development

Anthony believes that everyone deals with something that impacts them on a personal level which can impact their behavior in their professional life. Are you going through a difficult breakup? Did you lose money in the stock market? Is a family member dealing with a severe illness? Or perhaps you’re dealing with depression and anxiety and worried about the state of the world?

All of these things aren’t isolated to who you are at home—you bring these strong emotions with you. If you’re not careful, they can negatively impact the negotiation process. Anthony is the first to admit that he invests money in personal development for himself, and for his team. He’ll buy books on emotional intelligence, pay for Tony Robbins seminars, or opt for something fun such as paying for a pickup artist class.

You HAVE to deal with your SH$T

Your own personal development begins with dealing with the crap in your life that’s making a negative impact on your mental state. It impacts your ability to achieve goals. You have to seriously ask yourself: Am I failing at this negotiation because of unresolved personal issues that I’m bringing to work with me?

Everyone deals with something. Often, those aren’t things that you can just overcome with the flip of a switch. But the first step is recognizing that there ARE things that are holding you back from success. Once you understand your mindset and your destructive behavior patterns you can learn to recognize them and begin to work on them so they don’t hold sway over you.

The impact of vulnerability

The negotiation process makes you vulnerable just as much as the other side. You’re putting yourself out there and negotiating for your goals, and for your business goals. If you aren’t confident in who you are and you’re struggling to portray confidence, it will be quickly exposed. The insecurities that you don’t deal with will come to the surface—and it WILL derail your negotiation quickly.

If you spend all of your time trying to boost your ego, it’s draining. If you don’t understand who you are and why you’re coming to the table, how can you expect to understand the underlying needs of your counterpart? A big part of why negotiations fail is because negotiators don’t understand who they are and what they’re trying to accomplish beyond the surface goals set forth.

Personal development is the necessary starting point and a stepping stone to help you grow as an individual and as a negotiator. If you can understand how to get to the root of your own issues, struggles, and insecurities, you are more primed to see those things in others and address them accordingly.

To learn more about negotiation styles, fostering a deep understanding of yourself, and the impact of personal development, listen to episode 140 of the Negotiations Ninja podcast!