Negotiation Is A Part Of Everyday Life Negotiation

Negotiation is a part of everyday life, yet there is a very small amount of people who are comfortable when having a negotiation or difficult conversation. Some do not want to harm the relationship, so they just agree with the other party (soft-bargaining); and others love to get into the “game” and look for any situation to negotiate and win (hard-bargaining). I would say I fall somewhere in between because I care about the relationships for the most part; however I also love to negotiate and work the conversation. Through this real-life negotiation, the class and this paper I plan on growing as an individual and becoming a more effective negotiator.

In my mind a “real-life negotiation” was going to be a breeze, personally I love to argue and negotiate with people on almost anything. Growing up I was always the one kid who took everything too seriously, I wanted to win every game regardless if it was competitive or just a game on the playground, so when I found out we were going to be sent into the “real-world” to negotiate something I was beyond thrilled. Where I am from it is basically common knowledge that “Hurley’s” are car people, and therefore I knew I wanted to go somewhere and to not only pretend to buy a car, but get the sales person to drop the price of the vehicle.

I went to the Cassen’s dealership in Edwardsville to haggle the price of a Jeep Wrangler. I was prepared to haggle, and fight for a fair price; however was stopped short in my steps. The sales lady was stern, and quite frankly scared the living hell out of me; however I took a deep breath and used the skills I learned in class and through reading to begin to negotiate. The two of us talked about the vehicle’s pros and cons, and I showed her the informati...

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...egotiator. I would never have put myself out there to negotiate for no reason; however it was an amazing learning experience. It is evident that become more confident in negotiation and conflict skills by being in this class, and I too think that growth as an individual has followed. The best learning experiences are the ones that make an individual go of their comfort zone just enough to help them grow. The authors’ of “Getting to Yes” put it best when they say, “More and more occasions require negotiation; conflict is a growth industry,” (Fisher & Ury, 1991) this quote really stuck with me and it is true in various ways. Negotiation and difficult conversations happen daily, the only difference between you and everyone else is how you deal with those situations. Both “Getting to Yes” and “Difficult Conversations” have taught me how to be a more careful communicator