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Excerpt from Vol 1, No 2, Fall 1984 of The Type Reporter.

“I ran into trouble negotiating with ISTJ clients. I did not have the skills to hold my own against them and the benefit of the company was at stake.”

Rita Ferrara is a program manager for a software consulting firm and an ENFP. She recently attended four seminars on salary negotiating and self-projection in business. She says they were “incredibly valuable.” She’s negotiated for a good raise, clients and meetings which used to be very stressful are not anymore, and she’s much more able to get her ideas across in the business world.

“It’s not that hard,” she says. “There are just a few rules that you have to keep in your consciousness, and there’s a little extra planning to do.”

Briefly, here is what Ferrara learned:

In a normal business setting, never show emotion. Never say “I feel” or act in a feeling way. Keep your face devoid of affect. Be concerned only with the objective.

Don’t say, “I want a raise.” Say, “My work is good enough to warrant it. I expect to get more money.”

Don’t say, “I need a raise.” You should only communicate that your work is valuable or that your work has improved.

Prepare a few simple points and stick to them. If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, go back to your points.

Don’t think in terms of how you want to feel when you come out. Think in terms of what action you want them to take and keep stressing that.

“It’s not that I’m selling out on any important values, or denying myself expression,” says Ferrara. “I use my F skills when they’re appropriate, when I’m painting or playing the guitar.”

“I just put these new skills on in the same way I put on the silly clothes they make us wear here.”