Living Well: Achieving alignment through negotiation

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

By Teresa Griswold

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-When you are in alignment, you are true to yourself, empowered, and engendering inner peace. Crucial to achieving this is clear and honest communication.

Dana Cradeur, author of Recipe for Negotiating Business Deals Successfully and president of Dana International Consulting, based in Jackson, knows how true this is. After 20 years of negotiating in the international arena for the oil and gas industry, she honed a successful strategy that assists not only professionals in clearing the path for closing business deals, but also helps individuals see the bigger picture in interrelations – seeing what is being given away, how valuable it is and what to accept in return.

“Negotiating is about communicating – with oneself and with other people,” she said. “Often we give away our power, and we don’t even know it. So awareness is key.”

A vibrant, articulate and skilled negotiator, Cradeur has taken the essential elements of business negotiating and artfully applied them to communicating in everyday life, inspiring people to live in alignment and to speak the truth of who they are.

Crauder considers herself an “alignment coach” and is passionate about facilitating self-improvement and awareness in young students, life-long learners, and business professionals. Recently, she taught negotiating skills to Barbara Sanchez’s “Introduction to Business” class at Jackson Hole High School. Next week she is introducing the public to her negotiating techniques for everyday life in a two-part workshop.

The process to empowerment through negotiation starts with answering questions that assist you in better understanding yourself, such as, “How effectively do you communicate your needs and desires, and are they being met?” and “Do some of your friends, colleagues or work drain you?” By asking these questions, we learn about our feelings and needs, so we are more able to respond to requests in a manner that is respectful to both self and others, says Cradeur.

It is also important to get clear about your non-negotiables, assumptions, constraints and concessions. Non-negotiables are the things you cannot live with or without. They are the inflexible terms and conditions that must be adhered to. “You need to know what’s really important to you and, when thinking in terms of everyday life, know what you can and cannot commit to,” she said.

Making assumptions without first testing them is a waste of time and energy, she warns. “We make a lot of decisions based on assumptions rather than fact. Instead of worrying and wasting energy on untested assumptions, we need to test them to see if they are true,” Cradeur said. “We also must be able to recognize when we are making assumptions.”

Constraints are risks or liabilities to yourself. Knowing how to mitigate those risks and coming up with livable solutions is vital. In everyday situations, Cradeur says, assess your risks by asking yourself,  “Is this going to enhance the quality of my life or decrease it?”

Negotiating also requires concessions or the things that you are willing to trade. Some things have more value to you than others, and you are the only one who can define it. “Whenever you trade something of value to you, make sure you get back something in return,” said Crauder. “If you give away too much of who you are, you’ll feel depleted.”

In the end, successful negotiation is finding what both parties can live with while achieving alignment and remaining therein. Now that’s empowerment!

Next week, Cradeur will present these techniques in a two-part class from noon to 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday at the Troutwater Gallery, 60 E. Broadway, under the Snake River Grill. The classes are free, but Cradeur requests a donation of either a non-perishable food item or $5 for the Good Samaritan Mission. For more information, visit www.danaiconsulting.com. PJH

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Book offers insight into everyday alignment.

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