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Serena Zou
COM 4900
Professor Ohlbaum
November 25, 2015
Extra Credit Assignment
A Win-Win Negotiation
In Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In, she encourages women to negotiate for the salary
they deserve. To do so, she provides her personal negotiating experience with Mark Zuckerberg,
the founder of Facebook. By sharing her story, she illustrates the essence of being unafraid to ask
for her worth and thus motivates her audience to do the same. To maintain her belief in the
essence of negotiation for female graduates, Sandberg overcame her uncertainty in her decision
to negotiate with Zuckerberg and, therefore, proved that every woman is as capable in
negotiation as her male colleagues. The author’s success at the company illustrates how far
negotiation can take women’s careers, and this theory corresponds to my class lessons.
In the negotiation chapter of Lean In, Sandberg skillfully reveals the importance of not
accepting the first offer even if it is a dream job. The scene of the negotiation process started
when Sandberg was offered a job interview by Zuckerberg after months of unemployment.
Despite the need to get a job, uncertainty in Zuckerberg’s decision, and worry that she had made
the wrong decision in negotiating, Sandberg insisted on asking for what she deserved, and
effectively earning her proposed salary the following day.
Sandberg created a unique selling point for herself when she implied that her future
contribution to Facebook would be greater than the salary she asked for, and used an example to
demonstrate her value. This statement grabbed Zuckerberg’s attention and revealed Sandberg’s
intelligence in turning her request to her value. When she stated, “you hire someone to negotiate

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for your company in the future, and this negotiation that we are having now is a demonstration of
my negotiation abilities,” she demonstrated to her employer her interpretation of salary
negotiation, “When negotiating, ‘Think personally, act communally.’ ” Applying this tactic,
Sandberg showed Zuckerberg her negotiation skills and at the same time she requested a raise.
Another intelligent point she brought up towards the end of her interview with
Zuckerberg was when she added, “this is the only time we are in opposite positions of each
other,” this revealed her willingness to contribute to Facebook as well as the steps that she
prepared to take to add value to the company if she could be better compensated. Though the
author did well asking for the compensation she deserved, I believe she could have been more
self-secure if she kept in mind her “best alternative to negotiated agreement (BATNA).”
Applying the class knowledge on negotiation, Sandberg neglected to bear in mind her
BATNA when entering her negotiation with Zuckerberg. Despite the fact that she was not in a
desperate position in seeking a job, seeing that her husband’s well-paid position could support
her and her children, the author could have been more successful and secured if her idea in
fighting for salary equality did not dominate her purpose of negotiating. I believe she could have
made an educated choice to fight for her worth rather than an emotional one if she did an exact
calculation on her need and negotiated her salary based on that need.
Zuckerberg’s role in the negotiation was crucial for the two parties’ negotiation process,
and his compromise with Sandberg allowed her to come out on top. This salary negotiation could
not have been successful if Zuckerberg had the slightest doubt or emotion about Sandberg’s
proposal. But the fact that Zuckerberg decided to hire Sandberg the next day showed that he had
a number in mind for Sandberg’s capabilities. Still, what Zuckerberg could have done better for
the benefit of his company was to ask for a Human Resources manager to contact Sandberg a

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few days after the interview to negotiate on his behalf. I think the terms Sandberg offered could
be pared down to some degree if Zuckerberg detected his interviewee’s uncertainty. After all,
Facebook at the time was not fully recognized and being a young manager and CEO, Zuckerberg
had the responsibility to watch out for the budget of his company. If the negotiation between the
Human Resources manager and Sandberg failed, he could then compromise.
Sheryl Sandberg’s negotiation scene in Lean In reveals the author’s courage to ask for
what she is entitled to. The negotiating procedure between herself and Zuckerberg provided a
real-world example of the theme that I learned in class, and a similar scene will be presented to
female business students like me after entering the working world. Through Sandberg’s example,
I learned that while it is courageous to ask for a salary compromise, it is significant to keep in
mind that I need to know my bottom line and compute for my BATNA to gain an educated
position in negotiation. My takeaway from Sandberg’s story is to combine what I learned from
class with what I personally believe will prepare me to be a strong candidate, regardless of the
types of negotiations that I will encounter.