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Review: Negotiate a Kick Ass Salary (2012)

It doesn't take a thick book to learn how to develop one's negotiation skills. It doesn't need a jargon-filled document either. This is what Nelson Wang demonstrated when his 32-pager, "Negotiate a Kick Ass Salary", was published in late 2012. 

The one thing emphasized is the importance of preparation. Go to the battle well-armed, as people used to say. One cannot just go up to the boss and demand what one wants without supporting information. It's the prep work that takes the most effort because that when we need to answer the tough questions, to make the decisions, and to sweat it out. Nelson Wang does not promise that things will be easy; instead, he says that if we are willing to push ourselves that extra mile, we'll get what we want AND we'll develop some kick-ass negotiation skills along the way.

The nice thing about Nelson Wang's tips is that they are universal in nature. Aside from salaries, the negotiation skills one gets using the steps outlined in the book can help during difficult discussions, when people arrive at an impasse. 

The only way to develop one's negotiation skills is to practice them, particularly in front of a tough audience. There's no way to go around it. Armed with this book, let's see if I could present ideas more convincingly this year.

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