Taking inspiration from Elisa Kosarin’s website TwentyHats.com, my change this year will be to improve on soft skills that are necessary to carry out particular tasks with greater effectiveness. Elisa is correct when she states that folks in volunteer administration have to wear twenty hats to develop programs necessary to carry out our duties. The specific soft skill I’m working to tackle is the art of negotiating. Speaking from my own experience, it’s sometimes intimidating trying to cultivate a relationship with those who hold a significant number of cards (the donation of time and money) when stakes are high. Working at a non-profit, I’ve found that i’m in the business of asking for these donations with folks who sometimes feel they can pull the strings as they’re giving a large sum of money. Most non-profit professionals sadly aren’t equipped to negotiate based on interest with those who seemingly have more “power.” When negotiating with those who have the power, it’s not a good idea to negotiate position, especially when you don’t have much of a position to stand on. My thoughts on the matter.