Negotiation skills: one of the councilor's best friends

Effective negotiating skills can't be learned in a short workshop of this kind. But, hopefully, we have laid a foundation on which you can build those skills. Negotiating, or making decisions that involve others who may have as much of a stake in the outcomes as we do, is something we do consciously and unconsciously almost every day. Because negotiation is such a routine part of family life, our interactions in the marketplace, on the job, and in the business that takes place around the council table, it's one of those skills we can hardly afford to ignore. We hope you will return to the ideas in this essay from time to time to think about your role as negotiator and how you can do it better.

No one settles anything forever, it is only the mountain which doesn't move from its place.
- African proverb