The Good Girl's Guide to Negotiating

Leslie Whitaker

Whether you're buying a house, asking for a raise, or drawing up your divorce agreement, the internal pressure to "be a good girl" can drive you to give away more than you should, or settle for less than you deserve. Don't be embarrassed; you're not alone. Women buy half of the nation's new cars every year, yet studies show they end up paying up to 40 percent more than their male counterparts. At work, they earn 77 cents for every male dollar. And when they get home, married women do far more than their fair share of the household chores. It's not surprising that so many of us are lousy negotiators. From the time we're tiny, we're encouraged to please others and deny our own needs. But the good news for good girls is that many of us already possess an arsenal of undiscovered negotiating skills. We're great listeners, keen observers of nonverbal cues, and experts at putting ourselves...