The Leadership Blog by Ann Vanino

It’s a simple question. You are all you’ve got. It’s essential to nurture yourself, particularly when you are under stress. I have found in my work with clients that self care must raise equivalently to the level of stress you are experiencing. The negative effects of stress can be reduced when you take care of yourself. I use a simple tool to help my clients. When you recognize that stress is getting the better of you, make a commitment to nurture yourself one time within a week in each of these four areas: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It can be as simple as taking a walk in nature or something more, such as a weekend at the beach. Are you taking care of yourself? Make sure your answer is “yes”.

I spoke with a friend today who is an artist and finds herself in a position where she must develop her negotiating skills. It is not a skill she has been taught, nor does she have any great desire to develop it. But, learn to negotiate she must. She has a business challenge that could negatively impact her work. She is now called on to be a savvy and effective negotiator with someone who has honed their negotiating skills for years and also knows how to use them to their advantage.

So, she asked, “what do I do?” My answer was you become a negotiator and make sure you have skilled people working on your behalf and advising you. Your interests are not something you can hand over to another person. Knowing the art of negotiating helps you assure others will act in your interest. How good a negotiator are you?

If you want to go further with this, I have a free article on my web site titled ”Negotiating with Skill and Ease”.