OJOS

Understanding Yourself and How That Impacts Negotiation

By exploring what makes you unique, and how these dimensions influence your and others’ negotiation behaviors, you will enhance your negotiation knowledge, capability, and confidence

Self-awareness

Self- awareness will enable you to recognize how these characteristics facilitate or hinder your effec�tiveness in the negotiation process.

Gaining this self-awareness will help you train yourself to take a mental time-out to assess the situation and purposely choose the most appropriate style or approach for the situation.

Part of this are the personality attributes, individual differences are important in understanding how individuals manage conflict and negotiation. There are several dimensions like:

Locus of Control

Locus of control is a personality trait that describes individuals’ beliefs about the cause of or control over situations and events.

Externals tend to view fate or luck rather than personal effort as the cause of their successes or failures.

Internals believe that they have control over their actions—both positive and negative—and their destiny.

Self-Monitoring

Self-monitoring is the tendency to adjust our behavior relative to the changing de�mands of social situations.

High self-monitors are those who seem preoccupied with what others think and are motivated to behave in ways that matches others’ expectations

Low self-monitors seem uninterested in others’ opinions, and may behave or speak without concern for others’ approval or acceptance.

Thinking & Doing Preferences

Thinking: by understanding how we go about gathering and mentally sorting through data helps us understand how we (and those with whom we negotiate) tend to approach negotiation

Doing: The other dimension supporting the four temperaments concerns our decisions and actions.

Abstracts: tend to talk more about ideas, theories, beliefs, philosophies, often asking if, why, what if, what might be

Idealists and Rationals: prefer to brainstorm all the possible reasons for and solutions to issues.

Utilitarians: are concerned with logic and structure and tend to ignore feelings and neglect relationship building

Cooperatives: focus on harmony and values, often giving in to others’ wishes to keep the peace

Gender and Negotiation

Understanding the potential gender-based differences in communication styles, related traits, and negotiating approach can allow members of both sexes to effectively utilize their strengths and weaknesses in different types of negotiation situations.

Masculine and feminine describe traits and ways of behaving that have come to be associated with men and women.

Communication Style

Communication is the primary mechanism by which negotiators endeavor to resolve their differences in negotiation. It is how we let others know what we want and learn what others want.

Passive: People whose communication patterns are primarily passive, are more likely to be indirect, to avoid conflict, be easily persuaded/bullied, and be overly concerned about pleasing others.

Aggressive: This style of communication includes exerting control over others, humiliating others, dominating, being pushy, always needing to be right, using absolute terms, and blaming others.

Assertive: This style of communication is characterized by fairness, directness, honesty, tact, and sensitivity, and involves speaking up for your rights and taking into account the rights and feelings of others