Holiday Book Guide: Negotiation Books (By Women!) to Inspire Your Upcoming Year

Why not take the time between Christmas and New Year’s to catch up on some reading, while polishing an essential skill?  If you are looking for a last-minute gift or trying to embrace some personal and professional development over the break, WIN has curated a list of notable books on negotiation (by women) that are sure to help you start off the year on an empowered foot. 

The idea of negotiation leaves many of us dripping in sweat.  We hate it. Yet, if you want to learn how to strike an important business deal, convince someone to complete a project, or even just assert your restaurant/cuisine preferences with a friend, it is a skill you need to embrace and practice.   Whether it is a gift to yourself, a friend, family member, or mentee, these eleven books are sure to give you some great insights and advice on how to become a better negotiator. 

11 Noteworthy Negotiation Books Authored by Women for Your 2020 Reading List

Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture that Brings out the Best in People, by Donna Hicks

This landmark book from an expert in dignity studies explores the essential but under-recognized role of dignity as part of good leadership. Brimming with key research findings, real-life case studies, and workable recommendations, this book fills an important gap in our understanding of how best to be together in a conflict-ridden world.

Rebel Talent: Why it Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life, by Francesca Gino

In Rebel Talent, Havard Business School professor Francesca Gino shows us why creative rebellion is essential at work and in life, and why the most successful among us are those who break the rules. Rebel Talent provides strategies and examples for cultivating and embracing the right amount of rebellion in the workplace and in life, and offers illuminating case studies ranging from The World's Best Restaurant to fast food chains to corporations such as Google and Pixar. Gino encourages all of us to rebel against what's comfortable so we can thrive.

Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World, by Michele Gelfand.

When people from different cultures negotiate, the potential for misunderstandings is often high, and destructive conflict is too often the result. In Rule Makers, Rule Breakers, University of Maryland psychologist Michele Gelfand explains how a simple yet powerful new cultural framework—tightness-looseness theory—can help us make sense of our cross-cultural differences, break down cultural barriers, and achieve more at the bargaining table.

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, by Priya Parker.

In The Art of Gathering, Thrive Labs founder Priya Parker, a professional facilitator with a background in conflict resolution, argues that most of us tend to just go through the motions when planning events, whether a dinner party, a conference, or a negotiation. The result, too often, is a dull, forgettable experience. Parker offers novel advice on how we can make our negotiations and other group events more meaningful, memorable, and rewarding.

Negotiating at Work: Turn Small Wins Into Big Gains, by Deborah M. Kolb with Jessica L. Porter. 

Negotiating at Work offers practical advice for managing your own workplace negotiations: how to get opportunities, promotions, flexibility, buy-in, support, and credit for your work. It does so within the context of organizational dynamics, recognizing that to negotiate with someone who has more power adds a level of complexity. This is true when we negotiate with our superiors, and also true for individuals currently under represented in senior leadership roles, whose managers may not recognize certain issues as barriers or obstacles.

Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation and Positive Strategies for Change, by Linda Babcock.

Women Don’t Ask combines fascinating research with revealing commentary from hundreds of women. It explores the personal and societal reasons women seldom ask for what they need, want, and deserve at home and at work-and how they can develop this crucial skill. While offering real-life examples of the differences between the negotiating habits of men and women, it guides women in retooling their attitudes and approaches.

The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance - What Women Should Know, by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman.

Working women today are better educated and more well qualified than ever before. Yet men still predominate in the corporate world. In The Confidence Code, Claire Shipman and Katty Kay argue that the key reason is confidence. It provides an informative and practical guide to understanding the importance of confidence-and learning how to achieve it-for women of all ages and at all stages of their careers.

How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job, By Sally Helgsen and Marshall Goldsmith.

Leadership expert Sally Helgesen and bestselling leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith identify the 12 habits that hold women back as they seek to advance, showing them why what worked for them in the past might actually be sabotaging their future success. How Women Rise is essential reading for any woman who is ready to advance to the next level.

Getting (More of) What You Want: How the Secrets of Economics & Psychology Can Help You Negotiate Anything in Business & Life, by Margaret A. Neale and Thomas Z. Lys.

Getting (More of) What You Want reveals how to overcome our psychological biases and assess the hidden value in any negotiation. Neale and Lys present a practical new approach that will help you master this crucial everyday skill in every situation. Drawing on three decades of ground-breaking research into behavioral economics, psychology and strategic thinking, this book will revolutionize the way you approach negotiation. Whether you're looking for a better deal on your new car, asking for a pay rise, selling your company or just deciding who does the washing up, this book will help you become a more successful, more efficient negotiator - and get more of exactly what you want.

Money Can Buy You Happiness: Secrets Women Need to Know to Get Paid What They are Worth!, by Patty Ann Tublin.

Money Can Buy You Happiness provides all the negotiating strategies, tools and skills needed for women to close the gender wage gap and get paid what they are worth. It deconstructs women’s uncomfortable relationship with money, encourages them to seek their true market value, and provides them with a proven step-by-step plan to close their own personal wage and income gap.

Know Your Worth, Get Your Worth, Salary Negotiation for Women, by Olivia Jares. 

From one of the top resume and salary negotiation experts in the country, Know Your Worth, Get Your Worth: Salary Negotiation for Women is your front row seat to all the insider secrets of the world of earning what you are worth. From learning exactly what you are worth in today's market, to teaching you how to get it without fearing rejection- this book will give you never-before-shared advice on the perfect resume and cover letter from the perspective of a compensation expert. You will learn the secrets of nonverbal communication to your advantage.