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Negotiation Skills Every Filipino Woman Should Know
- Business & Social
- By InLife Sheroes
- Sep 29, 2025
- 0 Comments
Negotiation means claiming your worth, shaping opportunities, and creating space for others to rise with you. For women in business, mastering this skill can be a game-changer.
Key Takeaways
- Leveraging empathy, collaboration, and relational skills helps Filipino women create win-win outcomes in negotiations.
- Preparing with research, clear goals, and confidence ensures Filipino women know their worth at the negotiation table.
- Negotiating beyond salary, including flexibility, growth, and benefits, empowers Filipino women to claim full value.
Strong negotiating skills are necessary in a world where the capacity to negotiate is frequently the deciding factor in business discussions, career advancement, and leadership positions. For Filipino women pursuing growth, whether as professionals, entrepreneurs, or community builders, learning to negotiate effectively can unlock more opportunities and even help level the playing field.
Here’s how you can sharpen those skills.
Why Negotiation Matters — Especially for Women
When women negotiate proactively, it affects more than just their own careers. It shapes the larger narrative around value, fairness, and equality. According to research highlighted by Harvard Division of Continuing Education (Harvard DCE), prevailing beliefs that “women are less effective negotiators than men” have no solid evidence behind them.
At the same time, communities and companies benefit when women confidently advocate for themselves and others. Better outcomes, whether in salary, business deals, or work conditions, start with knowing your worth and being able to ask for it. It helps women claim fair value for their labor, ideas, and leadership, while also building a strong foundation for future growth.
What Women Bring to the Negotiation Table
Women often bring strengths to negotiations that may differ from stereotypical “aggressive bargaining,” and research reveals these strengths can give us an edge.
- Relational and ethical problem-solving. A study found that women tend to be more cooperative, empathetic, and ethical in negotiations. These traits can lead to solutions that benefit all parties and build trust in long-term relationships.
- Collaborative mindset and flexibility. Women often excel when framing negotiation as problem-solving or collaboration rather than conflict. This mindset helps avoid stalemates and encourages creative, win-win outcomes.
- Strong listening and emotional intelligence. Being attuned to others’ needs, reading non-verbal cues, and asking open-ended questions are valuable tools in uncovering shared interests and building rapport.
How to Negotiate with Confidence
Here are practical strategies that can help you step into negotiation with clarity and strength:
Know your value — and gather your data
Before you enter any negotiation — whether it’s salary, freelance rates, business deals, or project terms — take time to research. What is the market rate? What similar roles are paying? If you run a business, what do others with similar offerings charge? By grounding your request in credible data, you’re not asking for “special treatment” — you’re asking for fairness.
Be clear about what you want and prepare your case
Define your goals and identify your bottom line. Think about what matters most to you — salary, flexibility, benefits, support, work-life balance, business terms, growth opportunities. Imagine what the other party might want too, and prepare arguments that can meet both sets of needs.
Use relational strengths — listen, empathize, collaborate
Let negotiation be more than an exchange of demands. Ask open-ended questions, listen to the other party’s concerns, and find ways to frame your request as mutually beneficial. This approach reduces tension and can lead to creative win-win outcomes.
Balance assertiveness with warmth
You don’t need to be harsh or aggressive. Assertiveness doesn’t mean losing empathy. Many women find success when they express confidence without sacrificing kindness — assertive yet respectful communication often carries more weight than blunt demands.
Don’t just negotiate salary — think broader
Negotiation doesn’t end at salary. Consider asking for flexible hours, remote work, professional development, bonuses, equity share (if entrepreneurship), or business support. Often these additional terms carry value equal to — or more than — the headline number.
Practice regularly — treat negotiation as a learned skill
The more you negotiate (even in small ways), the more natural it becomes. Try negotiating shop prices, service terms, freelance contracts, or even household agreements. Each successful (or even imperfect) attempt builds confidence and hones your instincts.
Lean on your network and learn from others
Mentors, peers, community groups — these can be powerful allies. Sharing experiences, asking for advice, role‑playing negotiation scenarios, and building solidarity can boost confidence. Emotional support helps carry through until you feel strong enough to ask.
Ready to Step Up?
If you’ve ever hesitated to ask for what you deserve—because you didn’t know where to start, because you worried about being seen as “too pushy,” or because you simply lacked confidence—know this: you’re not alone. And you’re not asking for too much.
Let your value speak for itself. Prepare. Practice. Use your empathy, relational strength, clarity, and courage. Use data. Use relationships. Use your voice. You don’t have to conform to outdated expectations of “being nice”. You have the right to strive.
If you’re seeking tools, community, education, and support, we invite you to join the InLife Sheroes movement. Sign up. Surround yourself with women who uplift each other. Learn with us. Grow with us. Negotiate not just for yourself but for every woman who will follow.
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