It’s not your grandpa’s workplace anymore, but if you listen to the presidential and congressional candidates, it’s easy to wonder if they’re aware that it’s 2012, not 1972. This is especially true for issues related to work and life in a modern, hectic, global, high-tech world.

Addressing these issues isn’t “nice, but non-urgent.” They directly impact the economic growth agenda that the candidates say is their primary focus. Productivity and innovation can’t happen without considering the reality people face on and off the job.

Now, I’m not saying government can solve all of the challenges. In fact, employers and individuals also need to act and think differently if we are going to construct a new model of prosperity for all. But public policy plays a role and must catch up.

I don’t know exactly what that looks like, but we need to start a serious debate grounded in today’s world.  Here are the six present-day work and life questions I wish every candidate for president and Congress would acknowledge. Doing so would let voters know that at least they understand the issues exist.

Questions #1 and #2: Who is going to care for the aging population? How are caregivers supposed to provide that care while working, and how are they supposed to pay for it?

If there’s one issue looming on the horizon that’s going to slam full force into businesses of all sizes and their employees (men and women), it’s eldercare. In terms of who will provide care, it’s not going to be a current or former stay-at-home parent or spouse:

• First, most parents work for pay. A new study by the Center for American Progress found that, “in 2010, among families with children, 49% were headed by two working parents and 26% by a single parent.” In other words, only 29% of children have a stay-at-home parent.
• Second, we can’t assume that stay-at-home parents want to become primary eldercare providers. It is a very different and, in many ways, more difficult type of care.
• Third, today, “more than 50% of U.S. residents are single, nearly a third of all households have just one resident…By 2000, 62% of the widowed elderly lived alone.” In other words, in many cases, there is no one else in a household to provide direct, local care. And that trend is growing.

Employers aren’t dealing with the reality at all. In fact, according to a new study by the National Alliance for Caregiving, only 9% of employers offered referrals for eldercare in 2011, down from 22% in 2007.

And, individuals are equally as unprepared. According to Denise Brown, founder of Caregiving.com, most people believe Medicare will pay for and provide care, which is not true. As a result, families don’t plan or budget and are overwhelmed financially, physically, and emotionally. This makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for a growing number of men and women to fully contribute at work.

Question #3: How are you going to support and promote greater work flexibility?

Work flexibility offers many benefits to businesses and people. After almost two decades in the trenches working with organizations and individuals, I don’t believe the government can mandate flexibility. Each business and each person is too different for a one-size-fits-all approach to flexibility to succeed. However, there are issues the government can address that stand in the way of progress:  (Click here for more on FastCompany.com)

I invite you to follow me on Twitter @caliyost.

(This post originally appeared in Forbes.com)

A couple of weeks a ago I facilitated a work+life fit panel of senior women business leaders at the Forte Foundation’s MBA Women’s Conference. The conversation between the leaders and the student attendees was so rich and informative, I thought it would be interesting to continue the dialogue in a series of posts on ForbesWoman.

The goal of our panel was to share lessons learned with students from our journey to fit work into our very different but equally busy lives. To make the dialogue as open and honest as possible, all of the panelists moved our chairs to the other side of the official dais. I even asked the students to imagine this was a “girls afternoon out” rather than a conference in the hopes it would make them comfortable to ask even the  most basic questions.

Our session could have continued far beyond the 75 minutes allocated. The work+life fit concerns of the young women MBA students were insightful and important. And the responses from the panelists were equally as interesting and oftentimes different. But the point wasn’t to get an “answer,” but to start a supportive, candid dialogue across the generations from which we can all benefit.

My next few ForbesWoman posts will highlight a different question posed by one of the MBA students either to the panelists or offline to me afterwards. I hope the community will jump in and offer their thoughts, so that together all of us, but especially the next generation of women leaders, can “Lean into your careers.”~Sheryl Sanberg COO, Facebook.

Here’s the first work+life fit inquiry….

“Should I Tell People I’m Leaving Work to Go to the Gym, or Should I Just Go?”

To disclose or not to disclose, that is the question.  The answer is a tough one  (Click here for more)

How to Get Line Managers to Fall Madly in Love with Flexibility  (or at Least Like it More)

DATE: Friday, July 8th
TIME: 12 pm EST

73% of the 2011 Work+Life Fit Reality Check survey respondents answered “True” when asked, “Work life flexibility is only possible if your employer and/or boss provide it.”  In other words, most of us believe that without the support from our bosses, greater flexibility in how, when and where work is done is out of reach.  Their support is critical to the success of flexibility, but often elusive and inconsistent.

Over the past 15 years, we’ve watched line managers fall in love with flexibility, as they recognize that its a powerful lever for running their business, and for helping their people manage their work+life fit better and smarter.

Join us for this value-packed webinar and we’ll show you how!

Some of the insights we’ll share include:

• What’s the most important question to ask a manager if you want their support?
• What’s the role managers dislike the most, and often makes them hate flexibility?
• What are the three most common manager fears that, if addressed directly, remove all roadblocks?
• What is the best way to involve line managers in the flexibility strategy development process to maximize buy-in and support?

If you are interested, click here to learn more!  Hope to see you there. SOLD OUT

(This post originally appeared on the blog of a wonderful non-profit, Women With Drive, founded by my friend Molly Cantrell-Kraig)

Some people call me an expert, but, really…I’m an explorer continually searching for new and better ways to help people manage their work and life.

This 15 year journey has led me to write a book, Work+Life: Finding the Fit That’s Right for You, start a blog, and help companies to become more flexible in the way they work.  But Molly Cantrell-Kraig’s invitation to write a guest post for Women With Drive (Twitter @WWDr1ve) was a unique opportunity to stop and reflect upon what I’ve learned.

For this post, I challenged myself to pick out the “Top 10” work+life fit tips that I think every woman should know.  It wasn’t easy, but here’s my list. Remember, I’m an explorer on a never-ending quest to learn more, so I really want to hear what you think too!

1. There is no “balance,” only the unique way work fits into the rest of your life day-to-day and over time (for more check out The 10 Tyrannies of Work-Life Balance).
2. Contrary to popular belief, you can choose what your work+life fit looks like about 70% of the time (which is way better than 0%).  Nothing is ever perfect and even the most careful plan will change.  But being thoughtful and deliberate about the choices you make and actions you take does ensure that more of what you want does happen in work and in the rest of your life.  Make 70% your bar of success…not “perfect.”
3. Managing the way work fits into your life is a practice not a destination. You will never “have” work+life fit.  All you can do is try to make your “fit” the best it can be based on where you are now.
4. Keep a calendar with all of your work and personal “to dos” in one place so that you have a complete picture of your life. And if you aren’t comfortable adding your personal goals and responsibilities to your calendar at work, keep your personal calendar with you on the job.   Glance at them both a couple of times throughout the day to stay on track.
5. Take 20 minutes each week to sit quietly and ask yourself what you need more of/less of in your “fit” and make it happen. Small actions make a big difference.  A cup of coffee with a friend.  A half an hour walk.  Lunch with your daughter.  An appointment to get your hair cut.
6. Understand that it’s about managing your time and your energy. Taking care of yourself requires time but it gives you more energy…so it’s a net gain.  Women tend to feel guilty about taking time to sleep, eat well, and exercise especially if it means we’re not focusing on others.  But, a good night’s sleep, a healthy meal, and a yoga class, for example, prepare you to give even more (and better!)
7. Make your back up plans in advance so you are prepared and less frazzled. For example, who will take care of your child when they are sick, or if there’s a snow day?  Who will walk your dog if you have to stay late at work?  How will your mother get to the doctor if you can’t take her?
8. Prioritize managing your personal finances. Having a handle on your money—no matter how much or how little you have—is critical to your long-term work+life fit success.  When my parents divorced 35 years ago, my mother had very little money and few job prospects, but she was always careful and deliberate with what she had.  By the time she retired, she’d paid off her house and car and was able to truly enjoy retirement.   That careful management, even when there wasn’t much, gave her choices in the long run.   (Great resources for women: Manisha Thakor, Daily Worth)
9. Don’t let pride stand in the way of asking for help from your community, your friends, and family. We are not superwomen.   Ask.  Someday you will pay it forward.
10. Finally, guilt is a corrosive energy-waster. Stop comparing yourself to others.  Everyone has different circumstances; therefore, they will have a different work+life fit. Maybe you can’t make it to your child’s school events as often as another parent because you have to work.  That doesn’t make them right, and you wrong.  It’s about making it all fit together the best way it can…right now.

What advice would you give to other women to help them more successfully manage the way work “fits” into their lives?

Did you find the information in this post helpful?  If so, I invite you to also visit my Fast Company blog and connect with me on Twitter @caliyost. Also, you might be interested in our NEW!  How-To “Make Flexibility Real” Newsletter and LinkedIn group.

There have been many noteworthy milestones during my decade-long  Work+Life “Fit” ® campaign.  But one of the highlights happened last Thursday when U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis used the term “work+life fit” a number of times in her keynote address at the Department of Labor Women’s Bureau Conference in California.  Here’s an example:

“Employers need to know that there are tools out there…It’s a balance, having that competitive edge and work-life fit.”    Yup, (emphasis mine).

This particular forum highlighted the unique flexibility needs of low wage workers to manage their work and life.  Her use of the term is exciting because, as I’ve noted before, “fit” makes a big, meaningful difference.  The language allows us escape the innovation-killing “10 Tyrannies of Work/Life Balance,” which are:

• Balance is always discussed in the negative-what you “don’t” have.
• Balance keeps you focused on the problem, not the solution.
• Balance assumes we’re all the same.
• Balance infers that there is a “right” answer.
• Balance leads us to judge others (and ourselves), often unfairly.
• Balance results in unproductive guilt.
• Balance suggests that the goal is an impossible 50-50 split between work and the other parts of your life.
• Balance leaves no room for periods where there’s more work and less life, and vice versa.
• Balance ignores the fact that work and life are constantly changing, and
• Balance will never be taken seriously by corporate leaders, who only hear “work less” when you say “balance.

And embrace new possibilities because with “work+life fit” we:

• Focus what we could have.
• See solutions.
• Know we’re all different.
• Realize there’s no right answer.
• Stop judging yourself and others, harshly.
• Lose the guilt.
• Embrace and plan for the ebb and flow of work and life, and
• Increase the likelihood that corporate leaders will support the need to flexibly manage work and life better and smarter.

This is particularly important when addressing the flexibility needs of low wage workers.  Their work+life fit realities, and therefore, the solutions that will work for them and their employers are different from salaried or exempt employees.  The report that outlines those specific solutions, “Flexible Workplace Solutions for Low-Wage Hourly Workers” by Workplace Flexibility 2010 and the Institute for Workplace Innovation, will be released in March, 2011.

So welcome to the “work+life fit” club, Secretary Solis!  It’s nice to have you onboard.  After I finish this post, I’ll put a copy of my book, “Work+Life: Finding the Fit That’s Right for You (Riverhead/Penguin Group)” in the mail so you can see that indeed the tools do exist and have existed for years.  The book, which was published in 2004, outlines the steps that individuals need follow in order to meet their employers halfway and use flexibility to find a fit that’s a win-win for everyone.

Now, if we could just get the President and First Lady Michelle Obama to join in…Imagine!

Related post of highlights from Pasadena DOL conference: “Gaining a Competitive Edge in the Global Economy–Using Flexibility with Hourly Workers in Healthcare” from Corporate Voices.

For more on work+life “fit” and strategic flexibility, I invite you to also visit my FastCompany, as well as join me on Twitter @caliyost.

From what I’m seeing, we’ve turned a corner in the job market. Firms are publicly stating their intention to hire. And, the “Look, people are just lucky to have jobs,” mantra of the last two years has given way quickly to “We need to offer workplace flexibility so we can attract and retain our people.” This is great news for me, but it’s dangerous for employers.

It’s great news for me because it is true and it’s the easiest sell for our expertise. A mountain of research has proven over and over again that people choose and stay with employers, in part, because of flexibility. Employers are all ears when we explain how we can help solve that problem. It’s the reason retention and recruitment drove the growth of flexibility in the 90′s and 00′s.

Falling back on this familiar “why” for flexibility could be dangerous for organizations. As we saw at the height of the economic downturn, flexibility based solely on the recruitment and retention rationale had shallow roots. It couldn’t hold against the strong winds of the recession. In many organizations, flexibility disappeared perhaps not in name, but in practice because, “Look, people are just lucky to have jobs.”

Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past.

Let’s use this resurgent focus on the importance of flexibility to create a stronger root system that runs deeper into the culture and the day-to-day operating model.

We need to go beyond recruitment and retention, because if we don’t:

People won’t trust that flexibility is real and safe to use. Flexibility is not a red carpet you can roll out in good times and roll back in at the first signs of trouble. You get one, maybe two, shots at promoting greater flexibility in your workplace. Initially, people will trust you and try it. But they’ll be watching. If flexibility is perceived to not work as promised, hurts someone’s career, or becomes a flavor of the month, it will be very hard to get buy-in the next time. That doesn’t mean flexibility shouldn’t adapt to changing realities. It just can’t disappear.

Flexibility will remain a tactical benefit with an important, but limited, impact. In far too many organizations, both leaders and employees still believe that formal flexible work arrangements are a nice-to-have benefit. They look good on the recruiting brochure and they are a helpful, tactical response when someone you want to keep threatens to leave. Strategic flexibility in the way work is done and life is managed is so much more, but it can’t be based solely on recruitment and retention or …

Employers leave money on the table and miss out on profit and growth opportunities from the other applications of flexibility that hold in good times and bad. Combine these other impacts with recruitment and retention and you create the deeper, stronger root system that allows flexibility to thrive boom or bust. These other impacts include (but is not limited to):

• Productivity and Engagement: People are able to get more done with less if they have the day-to-day and more structured, formal flexibility to work and manage the other parts of their lives. Companies leave money on the table, especially in a tough economy, when they don’t make flexibility real and meaningful. (For an interesting related commentary checkout Jason Fried’s “Why Work Doesn’t Happen at Work” Ted talk).
• Business contingency planning: You can stay open for business when it snows or there’s a flu epidemic because people can work from home.  (Click here for more)

Sign up for our NEW monthly Flex+Strategy “How To” eNewsletter and follow me on Twitter @caliyost

(This post originally appeared in the Huffington Post as part of the National Work and Family Month blog carnival)

This year’s National Work and Family Month blog fest has celebrated successes, articulated pressing problems, and laid out a vision for the future. But for meaningful progress to happen over the next 12 months, we also have to acknowledge the very real frustrations of those touched by the challenge of managing work and life today.

There is no doubt that we are in the middle of a difficult economic and demographic transition. Most likely, the level of work and life frustration is going to grow. What would happen if, for the next twelve months, our first response to every challenge was an affirming, “Yes, I hear you…”? Hopefully, it will coax us out of our respective corners. We’ll release our tight grip on individual agendas (even just a bit) and create a fuller, more flexible shared vision of work and life fit that matches reality.

For the past month, I’ve kept track of some of the work+life frustrations expressed in my presence. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s a representative sample to get us started.

I thought it would be interesting to see what happens if my initial response was, “Yes, I hear you” rather than launching into an answer or opinion. In my experience, this simple act of validation sets a tone that supports an ongoing conversation and creates even a small opening for progress.

It may sound a bit Oprah, but before we can change, we need to feel like someone is listening.

Here’s what you told me, and here’s what I said (or wished I’d said):

Why do we keep focusing only on the financial return of work and life strategies? Why don’t we demand organizations and leaders put equal emphasis on the human costs and benefits as well?

Yes, I hear you. We do need to find a way to have more “Yes, and…” conversations. “Yes, the research proves that there are significant financial returns from work and life strategies and the benefits to people are equally as important and impressive.”

I understand that people have lives, but we have a business to run in a very competitive, difficult economy. If there’s no business, there’s no job at all. I just wish sometimes I heard a little bit more about that important fact in the debate.

Yes, I hear you. The reality is that businesses are facing incredible competitive pressures. We need to find a way to acknowledge this fact without shutting down the conversation about how we can work and live smarter and better to meet that competitive challenge. And do it from a place of strength and well-being for all.

Why can’t a mother take time to focus on her family and not suffer such a severe career penalty? Why are retirees who want to come back to work viewed as ‘valuable’ and mothers aren’t?

Yes, I hear you. Whether for parenting, illness, education, retirement, career breaks or slowdowns are going to happen. They just are. So how do employers adapt the ideal career track model and how do we shift expectations about our own career trajectory?

Stop telling me I need to do more and more for my child or I’m a bad mother. Should I sacrifice my family’s financial security to spend more hours that I don’t have on even more activities that experts tell me are critical to his success? What if I just can’t and run my business?

Yes, I hear you. The cultural expectations of mothers have not caught up to reality and the guilt can be withering especially when the message is that you need to do even more and you just can’t.

What burns me is that a mother in my group walks out every night without a second thought saying “Gotta get home,” and we’re sitting here expected to do the work. But guess what? My wife works. I have kids I’d like to see. And yes, our colleague is single, but she has a life too.

Yes, I hear you. You and your colleague’s interests and responsibilities outside of work are just as important. This is one of the great challenges, broadening the understanding that we all have full lives. And we all need greater flexibility in how, when and where we work as individuals and together as teams. How do we communicate and coordinate better and smarter to get the job done while living our lives?

Why do we celebrate the parent who calls in sick to care for a child with strep throat, but then give the person who’s walked the halls all night with his mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s a hard time?

Yes, I hear you. We don’t do a very good job acknowledging the prevalence of adult care giving or understanding the unique challenges these caregivers face.

New York City’s Christine Quinn abandoned working families when she pulled her support for paid sick leave legislation.

Yes, I hear you. Choices being made in the current economy are difficult for all. It’s frustrating that we are not able to find solutions that address the economic concerns voiced by business owners and the equally compelling needs of families who can’t afford to not get paid when they get sick.

The “Yes, I hear you” Challenge: I’m going to try. It doesn’t mean that I’m always going to agree with every perspective or have all of my ideas agreed with. But simple validation does increase the likelihood that someday everyone — business leaders, public policymakers, academics, mothers, fathers, those who are single, those caring for aging adults, and anyone else — can sit around the same table and begin to answer the question, “Now what?” Together.

Let’s see how far we can come by National Work and Family Month in October, 2011.

Like clockwork, around the second week of December, I begin to hear the same frustrations, “I still have all of my shopping to do.  I haven’t sent out cards or decorated my house and I have a year-end project due at work.  Every holiday season, it’s the same nightmare.”  Well, not this year.

During my recent appearance on Maggie Mistal’s Martha Stewart Network XM/SIRIUS radio show, I talked about how to start your holiday work+life fit planning…now!  I promise, if you do, you’ll be less stressed out and frazzled.  And, we could all use as much relaxed cheer as possible.   Follow these three steps to put as much joy and as little stress into your holiday work+life fit as possible(by the way, I just did them myself):

Remember, it’s not just about time management.  It’s about managing your time, energy and definitions of success.  Let’s start with…

Time: Take out your calendar.  Go to January 1, 2011 and work backwards.  Is New Year’s Eve important to you?  Do you want to celebrate it?  If yes, how?  Do you need a sitter?  If yes, start making calls to teenagers now, because they get busy.  Make reservations at your favorite restaurant or invite friends over.

Then move to December.  What holidays do you celebrate?  Mark them on your calendar.  Do you want vacation?  If yes, when?  Put in your request for vacation now and start to coordinate with teammates and clients to ensure they know your plans and offer to cover for each other.

Now add October and November to the big holiday work+life fit picture.  Are there year-end work-related deadlines that you can count on?  If yes, start to plan them into your schedule now so you can minimize last minute fire drills that can suck the joy right out of the season.

Think about what you want to accomplish related to the holidays.  What’s important to you?  Buying presents within a particular budget?  Baking cookies?  Seeing friends?  Decorating your house?  Sending cards?  Start to block off days you want to devote to these tasks.  The earlier, the better.  This is especially true if you want to avoid budget-busting last minute shopping.  Why wait?

Energy: Tired, distracted, overwhelmed, stressed.  These are the words we use too often to describe how we feel over the holidays.  And that’s because we aren’t optimizing our energy by building downtime into our holiday work+life fit.  Block off a few hours here and there to just relax even if you feel you “should” be doing something.  Watch football or read a book, but mark it down in advance or it won’t happen because there are even more demands pulling you every which way over the holidays.  Just rest.

Definitions of Success:    This is a biggie, especially for women.  When I was growing up, my mother baked delicious, wonderful cookies of all shapes and sizes during the holidays.  For many years, I felt bad that I didn’t.  But ultimately I gave that up and found the Pillsbury pre-made dough that I roll out and decorate with my children.  They love it.  Done.

Ask yourself, what really matters to you, your family and friends?  I LOVE giving and receiving holiday cards.  But I want to take my time filling out those we send and reading the ones we get, so I need to plan in advance.   But I don’t really care about fancy entertaining (although I sometimes fantasize about it).  A casual get-together with close friends and family is perfect and truthfully all I can manage without overload.

So, map out your holiday work+life fit today.  Bring more joy (and less stress) to this season by optimizing your time, energy and definitions of success over the next three months at work and in the other parts of your life.  There’s no better gift you can possibly give yourself…and everyone else around you.

How do you manage the fit between work and the other parts of your life to be as joyful and stressfree as possible over the holidays?  When do you start planning?

When Sharlyn Lauby (a.k.a HRBartender.com) asked me to comment on “How to Handle Workplace Retaliation,” I presented my advice in the context of proposing a formal flex plan seeking to change how, when and/or where you work.  A very common concern that keeps people from asking for formal flexibility is the fear of manager retaliation.  This concern has grown since the start of the Recession.

You can go to the HRBartender post for more on workplace retaliation, but here are three ways to approach your formal flex plan to ensure it gets the most positive consideration and limits the chance of a negative reaction:

Step 1:  Make sure your formal flex plan clearly considers the needs of the business (MOST PEOPLE DON’T DO THIS-Go to “Work+Life Fit in 5 Days” to learn how).  The quickest way to lose credibility with your manager and support for your plan is to ignore the day-to-day objectives of your job and the state of the business within which you work.

Present your plan as a proposal intended to initiate a conversation.  That way you signal to your manager that you are open to his or her input and that your proposal isn’t set in stone.  This gives the manager wiggle room.  He or she doesn’t feel cornered which is especially important if you manager isn’t used to employees working flexibly.

Step 2:  In many situations, if you are a solid performer, the answer will be “yes” to some version of a well-thought out plan for flexibility; however…

Step 3: What if the answer is “no” to your flex proposal? It’s okay to ask respectfully “why?” in order to determine if there’s a way to address the manager’s concerns.  Perhaps a 60-day trial period would help?

But what if the answer is still no?  You should prepare yourself in advance for what you will do if, even after your best effort to present a win-win plan, the outcome is not positive.   Sadly, it happens. Most importantly, make sure you don’t let that disappointment affect your performance on the job.

Sometimes what is seen by the employee as retaliation on the part of the manager for presenting a proposal is really a valid response to a decline in job performance after hearing “no.”   Go into the negotiation prepared to keep performing no matter what the outcome because your manager will be watching.

Especially if you are a solid, valued performer, your manager will know on some level that he or she should have found some way to make your well thoughtout plan work at least for a trial period.  As much as you may want to, don’t bad mouth your manager to colleagues.   There is a good possibility that he or she may come around with time and decide to give your plan a try; however, you don’t want to give them an excuse to question your commitment.

Even if you decide to look for another job that will give you more flexibility, don’t burn bridges with your manager.  You will want their recommendation.

While there is never a guarantee you will hear “yes,” when you present a formal flex plan, there are steps you can take to ensure you get the most positive consideration.  And, in case the answer is “no,” remain on good terms with your manager.  Whether or not you decide to look for more flexible alternative employment, it pays to stay friends.

I wanted to share the following information about a virtual negotiations workshop for women that I’m participating in…join me if you need a refresher on how to negotiate what you want and what you are worth!  Scroll down and comment for some free stuff…

Did you know?…that women’s failure to negotiate working conditions, salary or other compensation—along with their hesitancy to seek what they’re worth when they do negotiate—is one of the major reasons for the persistent wage gap for women in all work-related activities?

Did you know?...statistics show that women stand to lose up to $1.2 million over the course of their career by failing to negotiate their first job out of college?

Did you know?…that women simply don’t ask?

Are you ready for a breakthrough in asking for what you want and getting what you’re worth?

She Negotiates is a 4-week virtual learning and journaling course that examines the way you value yourself, your services, your salary, your bonuses and your products, and gives you the tools necessary to recalibrate your market value. The course takes place in the Craving Balance Learning Community (it’s free to join) where you will learn the basics of both distributive and interest-based negotiation strategies, and explore the primary tactics used to negotiate the best deals for yourselves, your clients and your family.

You’ll be coached by attorney-mediator and negotiation trainer Victoria Pynchon and life-balance specialist Lisa Gates. Both Victoria and Lisa will comment and coach you on your homework and journal entries to help you perfect the negotiation techniques taught during the course.

The course also includes one live practicum teleconference per week to role play, answer questions and model the most efficient negotiation and persuasion techniques now being used by the best business schools in the country.

SHE NEGOTIATES GIVEAWAY:

1. The first woman to write a comment on this post starting with the words, “I negotiate…” will get the course, She Negotiates, for free. ($375 value.)
2. The second woman to write a comment on this post starting with the words, “I negotiate…” will get the course, She Negotiates, for 1/2 price. ($187.50 value).
3. The third, fourth and fifth women write a comment on this post starting with the words, “I negotiate…” will receive a copy of Victoria Pynchon’s book, A is for !@#hole: The Grownup’s ABCs of Conflict Resolution, which is scheduled for release in July. Please be sure to include your email address. (Priceless value!)

Course Dates:

June 1 through June 30.

Do the work on your own time and schedule.

Practicum calls: June 8, 15, 22, 29 at 5 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. EST

All calls recorded so if you have to miss a call, you won’t miss a call!