Confidence is a muscle: lessons from Women in Treasury

From self-confidence to the art of negotiation

What does self-confidence have to do with successful negotiation? Quite a lot, as we discovered during our recent Women in Treasury event, hosted together with Deutsche Bank.

The morning started with a topic that is relevant to all of us, both professionally and personally: self-confidence.

Galina Kersten shared personal experiences and practical insights into developing confidence. One important message stood out: self-confidence is not simply something you either have or do not have.

It is a skill you can train, like a muscle.

Good preparation, practice and the willingness to move outside your comfort zone can all help strengthen your confidence over time.

Putting negotiation into practice

From self-confidence, the programme moved naturally to negotiation.

Joana Matos brought the subject to life through an interactive negotiation game. Instead of only talking about negotiation techniques, participants had the opportunity to experience them.

The exercise showed how important alignment, trust, strategy and listening are when negotiating. It also challenged participants to take risks, experiment with different behaviours and think about power dynamics – without losing sight of long-term relationships and reputation.

And there was plenty of fun along the way.

Simple lessons that make a difference

Throughout the morning, a number of simple but powerful lessons emerged:

Ask questions. Don’t assume – assess. Prepare. Think long term. Stay curious.

Small reminders, perhaps, but ones that can make a real difference in the way we approach both negotiation and leadership.

A big thank you to Deutsche Bank, Harry Moraal, Natascha Roy-Elsendoorn and Monique François for hosting and sponsoring the event and for their continued support of the Women in Treasury community.