And they were also signs of initiative and cleverness, which we find extremely important. The biggest obstacle to negotiating well is our inherent modesty. People are uncomfortable asserting their best attributes. So let other people sing your praises. Assemble compelling references and make sure your potential employer speaks with these people.
Negotiations require confrontation.
Any negotiation has its difficult moments. Don't let them trigger undue anger. Hold mock negotiations in which a colleague or family member plays the other side, and operate under a general paradigm of cooperation. The only thing that's certain about a negotiation is that it will lead to another negotiation, and then another. When I graduated from business school in 1973, almost everyone in my class flocked to Wall Street.