Ask for It

Ask for It is a negotiation guide focused on helping women overcome barriers to advocating for themselves in professional and personal situations. The authors draw from research in psychology and economics to explain why women often struggle with negotiation compared to men. The book provides a four-phase program with specific strategies, scripts, and exercises for improving negotiation skills. Real-world examples and case studies demonstrate how women have successfully negotiated for raises, promotions, work flexibility, and other goals. Through worksheets and preparation tools, readers learn to identify opportunities for negotiation, determine their target goals and alternatives, and handle challenging responses from the other party. The methodology emphasizes practicing negotiation skills through role-playing and gradually building confidence. This work addresses core issues of gender dynamics and social conditioning that impact women's willingness to negotiate. The authors present negotiation not just as a skill set but as a mindset shift that can lead to greater career satisfaction and life opportunities.

Readers describe this as a practical negotiation guide focused on women's specific challenges, with clear examples and scripts for various scenarios. Many reviewers mention successfully using the techniques to negotiate raises and job offers. Readers appreciated: - Step-by-step scripts and role-play examples - Research-backed strategies - Focus on preparation and practice - Specific ways to overcome common fears Common criticisms: - Some examples feel dated or oversimplified - Too much focus on workplace scenarios vs. other contexts - Repetitive content from authors' previous book Women Don't Ask - Could be condensed into shorter format Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 4.0/5 (1,900+ ratings) Amazon: 4.5/5 (180+ ratings) One reader noted: "The negotiation preparation worksheet alone was worth the price." Another said: "Changed how I approach difficult conversations, beyond just salary talks." Some readers mentioned the book helped them identify self-limiting behaviors they hadn't recognized before.

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Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office by Lois P. Frankel. The text identifies specific behaviors that keep women from advancing in their careers and provides strategies to replace them with more effective alternatives.

Women Don't Ask by Linda Babcock, Sara Laschever. This research-based examination reveals the personal and societal reasons women negotiate less frequently than men and the resulting career consequences.

Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson. The book details tools for handling high-stakes discussions when emotions run strong and opinions differ.

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. A former FBI hostage negotiator shares the negotiation techniques that work in both life-or-death situations and everyday scenarios.

🔸 Co-author Linda Babcock founded the Program for Research and Outreach on Gender Equity in Society (PROGRESS) at Carnegie Mellon University, which teaches negotiation skills to girls as young as eight years old. 🔸 The book was inspired by research showing that men are four times more likely than women to negotiate their starting salaries, leading to potential lifetime earnings losses of over $500,000 for women. 🔸 "Ask for It" builds on the authors' previous bestseller "Women Don't Ask," which was named one of Business Week's best books of 2003 and has been translated into six languages. 🔸 The four-step "CRED" method detailed in the book (Confidence, Research, Establish value, and Emphasize shared Destiny) was developed through interviews with over 100 successful female negotiators. 🔸 Both authors regularly consult for major organizations including Google, American Express, and the World Bank, helping to develop negotiation training programs specifically designed for women.