My name is Cindy Watson. I’m an attorney who’s specialized in labour, employment, and social justice law for 30 years. I’ve been named “Labour Lawyer of the Year” in multiple years, and the law firm I founded has been voted “Labour Law Firm of the Year” several times.

Labour and social justice law is a fast-paced, high-stakes field, requiring lots of intense advocacy and negotiation. It’s also a male-dominated niche in a male-dominated profession.

As many women professionals do, I thought I had no choice but to be tough to get my colleagues and clients to listen to and respect me. So I got tough! I developed a reputation as a real negotiating “barracuda!”

What I didn’t see, for a long time, was how my all-out, aggressive approach was spilling over into other areas of my life. Then one day, during what I thought was just an ordinary conversation, my son blurted out a question that pulled me up short:

“For God’s sake, Mom, does every discussion with you have to be an argument you WIN?!” 

Well, he got my attention! That moment jolted me awake.

I realized: I hadn’t always been a go-for-the-jugular, take-no-prisoners negotiator.

In law school and in my early practice, I had successfully negotiated in ways that felt natural and intuitive… ways that easily aligned with traditionally “feminine” qualities I valued: empathy, flexibility, and rapport-building, and more.

I decided I’d much rather have success negotiating like that then by sticking with the “tough gal” approach I’d fallen into… and that was turning me into someone who, frankly, I didn’t like very much.

As I looked at my own situation with fresh eyes, I started to see so many other women either overcompensating to make themselves heard and get what they asked for – or shrinking back from ever asking at all, just because they assumed they couldn’t. 

I’m on a mission to change that.

One reason I founded my organization, Women On Purpose, is to help women break free of the false belief that they can’t be effective negotiators, or that they have to be a “bark-and-bite” bully to get what they want.

The truth is, you can be every bit as capable and confident a negotiator as any man… and then some!

You already have all you need to do it.

And in The Art of Feminine Negotiation, I’ll show you exactly how.