What resonated for you in the learning materials about cultural
differences and individual differences? Select three aspects of your
culture/personality that you feel affect your performance in negotiations.
About each, answer:
1. What is the aspect of you that you'll discuss?
Where did it come from (family, biology, work, school, church)?
2. In what ways does this aspect of you affect
your performance in negotiations (refer to the learning materials to inform
this)? Does it hurt or help?
3. How can you use it effectively going forward?
1. Being a Female in a
Man's World...
In the farming community
where I grew up, it was unheard of for the wife to spend much time in the
operation of the farm. It simply wasn't a woman's place to be working cattle,
negotiating deals at the feed meal, visiting the banker for operating loans,
etc. Traditional gender roles were pretty explicitly drawn and when people
strayed from those, "folks would talk". In today's world, we
know that this simply just doesn't work nor should it. As a female farmer, I
face plenty of skepticism and even resistance, when I have to negotiate a deal
when it comes to selling livestock, visiting the feed meal to get a new ration
of feed mixed that I developed, or buying equipment. Because of this, I have
learned to have a fairly tough exterior when it comes to business. I typically
like to get straight to the matter at hand and forego the small talk. In
negotiations however, small talk can sometimes make or break the deal. In the
farming community, deals are still done with handshakes so it's important to
build in that relationship piece. On the other hand having this "tough
shell" has made it easier for me to accept criticism, deal with let downs,
and overall learn to cope with a loss when handed one. In the business world,
women often have a tougher ladder to climb so much of what I've learned to
traverse in operating a farm plays well into this world.
2. Keeping Your Thoughts
to Yourself...
Growing up, it was
pretty common practice to keep things to yourself and keep your family business
to yourself. This is fairly typicaly among most people that reside in rural
areas. In publications from the APA, it's well documented that it is generally
more difficult for rural people to share problems and feelings with strangers.
If I don't know someone, it's typically tougher for me to open up and have deep
conversations. I have certainly learned to overcome a lot of this anxiety when
it comes to talking to people I simply don't know, but it certainly took some
time. I have become pretty good at stepping up to strangers, making small
talk, and getting to know them. Perhaps I saw that as a challenge because it
wasn't something I was accustomed to growing up in a rural area and knowing all
75 people I graduated high school with on a fairly personal basis. I attribute
much of my improvements in this to the work I do and the travel I do for my job
as well as my experiences in college and with the FFA.
3. My Type A
Personality...
We've all taken those
personality tests to find out the personality traits that tend to categorize us
as either type A or type B. I am 100% type A, a textbook example. I am
impatient, competitive, work-obsessed, achievement oriented and from all of
that, sometimes I'm stressed. In fact, I think I work better when under stress.
It comforts me knowing that I have a to-do list that's a mile long and a few
short days or even hours to tackle that monster. Regardless, my goal driven
attitude has really made me who I am today. I manage a farm ,work a full-time
job, play the role of mother to two wild boys and spouse to my husband, and for
some wild reason, thought I should get an MBA to add to my degree list. With
all of this, I feel that the personality traits I bring along as being Type A
really do help me in the long run. I can juggle a thousand tasks and still find
a way to make it all work. Type A people like me, tend to be motivated,
are more likely to become leaders, and generally get a lot done. We are usually
more reliable, likely to act on their promises, arrive on time, and able to
meet your needs quickly and efficiently. People with a type A personality are
also great at planning and therefore decision-making. I can say that these
traits of my personality have worked in my favor. On the other hand, the
biggest problem I face from my personality traits is the impatience I have with
those that don't work at the same pace, aren't as efficient, or aren't as
competent when it comes to the task at hand. I bottle up that frustration most
of the time and more often than not end up doing way more than my share of the
work just because I would rather do it at my speed and know it's done the way I
want rather than wait on someone else.
References
Meyer,
E. (2015). Getting to si, ja, oui, hai, and da: how to negotiate across
cultures. Harvard Business Review, (12), 74.
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