On Sunday I wrote a review of the book Women Don't Ask (WDA) by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever. In this blog, I said how I planned to use the book as a starting point to help me get more of what I want out of life. When I had ordered WDA from Amazon, I got the recommendation for a second book by the same authors, Ask for It: How women can use the power of negotiation to get what they really want, published in 2008, so I purchased it at the same time.
Well, if I thought the first book was a good starting point, then the second one is the how-to guide. The same real-life scenarios are included in this new work, but the book itself is broken down into a series of steps which should be taken in order to increase negotiation power. One chapter even includes a six-week 'workout' in negotiating, which is supposed to make the reader more comfortable with the process as a whole. From asking for little things you're likely to receive, to requesting a 'bulk discount' on gasoline (yes, I immediately thought of the commercial as well), the exercises are designed to create habit in asking for more, as well as reduce the sting of hearing 'no'.
What I really liked about this book is that although it was still mostly aimed at women, the strategies discussed could easily be applied by a man or woman looking to get 'more' out of life.
On a personal note, I've already started working on outlining some of my own goals, and am planning to begin asking for them soon :)
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