9 Ways Your ‘Negotiation Personality’ Can Help or Hinder Your Success [Photo Gallery]

Powerhouse negotiator Eldonna Lewis-Fernandez, author of "Think Like a Negotiator," says there are three questions you may have never asked yourself prior to entering into a negotiation, but should: “What kind of negotiator am I? What kind of negotiator would I like to be? And, more importantly, what kind of negotiator do I ‘need’ to be in this situation to emerge victorious?”

According to Lewis-Fernandez, “One key to being a master negotiator is intuitively employing different approaches and taking an alternate direction based on each given situation. But, in order to do this effectively, one must first understand the varying – and quite distinctive – negotiator personality archetypes.”

According to her, most people typically utilize one of these archetypes while they negotiate. “Without this strategic aptitude and application of the right persona for the deal at hand, at best it’ll be harder than it needs to be and at worst, all could be lost.”

“An archetype is defined as a pattern of behavior or thought or, according to Oxford Dictionary, ‘a very typical example of a person or thing.’ So one’s ‘negotiation archetype’ is someone’s ‘way of being’ throughout the process – those particular characteristics and behaviors that one would use to describe the person and their deal-making methodology,” says Lewis-Fernandez. “This can be regarded as a ‘role’ being played, whether contrived or realistic, but the emphasis is on how the person is operating within that role.”

Lewis-Fernandez currently is the CEO of Dynamic Vision International, a specialized consulting and training firm that helps individuals hone negotiation skills, as well as a nationally regarded keynote speaker, session leader and panelist on the art of negotiation. She be reached online at www.ThinkLikeANegotiator.com.