One thing many of the top performing professionals, athletes, and business people have in common is a support system. Most know that in order to optimize their performance they need to recruit a professional, aka a coach, to help them overcome obstacles, serve as a sounding board, and guide them towards improvement.

Although a negotiation coach is similar to a business coach in both importance and guidance, the reasons why you would seek out one over the other are different. Outlined here are 6 top reasons you might need a negotiation coach and how their guidance can benefit your overall career and personal life.

We all walk around with our own set of limiting beliefs. Like your “mean girl” high school friends, who are exceptionally adept at projecting their own insecurities onto you, leaving you feeling lousy and dejected but unsure why.

These limiting beliefs are often sneaky — working on a subliminal level or just under the radar, masquerading as logic and rationale. They beg to be thrown in as justifications or excuses and are closely linked with fear of failure and rejection. We discuss how to identify and overcome these beliefs that continuously hold you back.

Child care challenges have always been a barrier to work, especially for mothers. With all the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, parents are struggling to find child care solutions. Here you can find options for child care solutions and ways you can negotiate with your employer to subsidize this care.

Many people, especially women, find negotiations to be stressful conversations. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the challenges you could encounter when faced with an upcoming business deal or negotiating your salary. Yet, the art of negotiation is a skill anyone can master, at any age.

It can take a long time for discussions to reach a deal, which is why it’s important for you to do your research on what pitfalls to avoid so you can get the most optimal outcome and not leave money on the table. If you avoid the following ten mistakes, you're sure to gain advantages in your next negotiation.

When you are Designed Differently you approach business, conflicts, life, and work creatively, optimistically, positively, and head-on. As a matter of fact, the present times make it clear and evident that leaders must lead differently, reframe their business stance, policies, procedures, and protocols, and embrace the Un-. Many people dislike being “Un” anything. No one wants to be uncertain, unprepared, unprofessional, unrealistic, unsettled, or unsure.

“The Overdue Awakening” is what Time Magazine has titled their cover spread in their latest issue and rightly so: racial justice is making major headlines these days. Although discrimination and bias are not new things, it seems there is a hopeful promise that we as a country are finally waking up. In order to address systemic and deeply embedded racial discrimination however, we need to gain awareness towards its byproducts of implicit and explicit bias. This effect trickles down from the price paid for a new car to how we are perceived during a salary negotiation. It is a known fact that the gender pay gap for women of color is even worse than the average gender pay gap at 63 cents on the dollar according to the US Census Bureau.

Over the last few days we have been collectively searching for the right words and the right actions, for a path forward, questioning, how can we do better than we have in the past? How can we turn this pivotal moment into one that has lasting impact? There is so much justified pain out there, and we acknowledge that there is no easy fix for the racial bigotry and systemic bias that has plagued our country for generations. Additionally, set against the backdrop of a global pandemic, it is especially hard not to feel hopeless and helpless about the future.

At WIN, we are committed to disassembling implicit (and explicit) biases, cultivating diverse leadership, and empowering women from all backgrounds.

We’ve assembled a list of resources to help support the Black Lives Movement from home or better educate yourself about racism and bias in America.

For parents stuck at home with their children over the last few months due to COVID-19, you may be feeling like you are in your own real-life version of a hostage situation. Here is what we can learn from real hostage negotiation that might help us navigate our own versions playing out every day with our children.  The Behavioral Change Stairway Model was developed by the hostage negotiation unit of the FBI and it outlines 5 steps to getting your opponent/hostage/counterparty or in this case child to see your perspective and change their course of action.

As many cities across the world begin to open up from lockdown orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is paramount to continue the CDC guideline of staying at least six feet apart in public places. Understanding and respecting the need for six feet of space is a new concept for everyone and in a time of quarantining and social distancing, the concepts of social etiquette and politeness like shaking hands and holding the door have been redefined. The most generous thing you can do now is to stay home or if you must go out, give everyone the necessary space to stay safe.

As we extend into week 12 of the COVID-19 pandemic and its flotsam and jetsam of social distancing and isolation, it is naturally becoming harder and harder to feel hopeful about the future.

The virus’ impact and wreckage can be seen and felt in a myriad of ways: from the horrific rising death tolls to the joblessness ravaging the country. We are feeling exhausted by the constant need for vigilance due to the invisible threat on surfaces and in the air, the added pressures of home-schooling, a never-ending loop of laundry, housecleaning, cooking, and the void of true face to face socialization.

Nine leading women share their tips on how we can best stay grounded and achieve well-being through this time of crisis.

Your complete guide to WIN’s newest virtual event: Women on the Front Lines!

This interactive virtual event is for women looking for expert guidance to help navigate this crisis, implement innovative solutions, and emerge as leaders.

This all-day interactive event brings together experts and thought leaders from across the country to offer critical conversations, advice, and workshops on helping navigate and negotiate through this “new normal”.

Every relationship right now can feel pretty strained. Whether it’s someone you haven’t had face-to-face contact with in over a month or someone you find yourself face-to-face with 24-hour regularity, conflict is sure to arise. But how do you get through this quarantine with relationships intact?

The power of negotiation stretches beyond equal pay. All of your conversations may feel more difficult right now. From establishing key essentials for work, vying for uninterrupted time for your business with your spouse, to ongoing negotiations with your children about what they can and cannot do - everything may likely feel like a negotiation and it would be only normal to feel depleted energetically.

In the face of this public health crisis, many people have been laid off, furloughed, or have seen their business collapse, facing down potentially months of bills with no income. Recent statistics show that 22 million Americans are now unemployed. Although many states are banning late fees, penalties, or other charges for tenants for late payment of rent, this does not absolve you from having to pay rent entirely. Turning to your landlord to negotiate rent might be your best option. Read on for how to negotiate rent for yourself and some of the protections that may be available to you.

After a few weeks of forced isolation, and with anxiety running high, it is only natural to be experiencing conflict with your family, partner, and/or children.  This conflict is a normal byproduct of our coping with extreme stress, with limited ability to take space, and an extreme lack of support. That being said, there are things we can do, even now, to improve communication, and get your needs met in a relationship.   The following tips can help you navigate the travails of intimate relationships, in times of self-imposed isolation –– or any time!

Though it feels like many industries have come to a crashing halt, this time of crisis does not imply immunity from performance management. Companies are watching how their employees are reacting, pivoting, and adapting. The work you create now will be more meaningful than before because of how critical it is. So how can you utilize this overwhelming situation for the best potential outcome? Focus on what is in your control.

Here are three principle ways to organize yourself around the present situation to optimize your performance and maintain healthy work policies.

When you are designed differently you approach business, conflicts, life, and work creatively, optimistically, positively, and head-on. As a matter of fact, most problems aren’t really problems they are opportunities to get curious, experiment, learn, and grow. Where one person sees a problem because you are designed differently you reframe and see an opportunity to contribute, show up differently, and be the solution. Oftentimes great solutions are hidden in plain site.

A pivotal part of negotiating is confidence. Having confidence in yourself leads to more chances to improve, more opportunities for advancement in business, and higher performance probability. Women face all kinds of gaps in the workplace and life: wage gaps, education gaps, domestic duty gaps, and even a confidence gap.

All these things add up. A lack of confidence holds us back from reaching our highest potential. Even with years of experience under our belts, we can feel as if we don’t deserve promotions or are not justified to tackle larger projects. Here are six ways you can boost your confidence to increase your business performance as well as establish a more robust work-life balance.

Be honest ladies. We’ve all had times when Valentine’s Day made us a little crazy. It’s the one day each year that has the ability to destabilize even the most grounded female amongst us. Whether it’s a fleeting moment of sadness or an entire week of the blues, Valentine’s Day carries a huge message for women. It’s become a signifier of our worth and desirability.

Many of us view negotiation as a taboo, dirty word that implies those once in a blue moon, scary conversations that often revolve around money and get to the root of our fear of rejection.  In truth, negotiation is a skill that, whether we realize it or not, we use every day, all throughout the day.  We’ve put together 7 ways to improve your negotiations and shift your mindset towards embracing a very important life skill.

Today more than ever before, women are at the forefront and rising.  From the appearance of women-only co-working spaces, to the ever-increasing female-founded brands taking being launched, to the women’s march, and more women running for Congress than ever before, women are truly trending.  Yet, it can still be a struggle to find ways to empower other women in a more intimate way.