Learning to negotiate. Insightful tips that will help you make a difference in your career.

Last week I led a discussion about negotiation with a group of 40 female employees at the City of Fort Collins. The topic was how to negotiate more effectively. It was an intriguing, inspiring conversation. We started with a quick survey of how many in the room knew what they specifically wanted to negotiate for–different responsibilities, higher pay, a step up–and fewer than ten felt they had a clear idea. This, it turns out, is pretty typical. On average, about 70 percent of professionals have a difficult time articulating what they want to do next in their careers. Often...