Collaborative Hardball: Using the Power of a New Negotiation as Women to Change the World

by Susan Coleman

325 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 3, 2026

Reviews

[Victoria Gilder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that feels less like a traditional business book and more like a call to rethink how influence actually works. I expected practical negotiation advice, but what stayed with me was the idea that collaboration doesn't have to mean compromise or weakness—it can be a source of real power.

What I appreciated most was the way Susan Coleman challenges long-held assumptions about negotiation, especially the belief that success comes only from dominating the other side. Instead, she makes a compelling case that women often bring strengths—relationship building, empathy, strategic listening, and long-term thinking—that can produce stronger and more sustainable outcomes. Rather than asking women to negotiate like everyone else, she argues for expanding what effective negotiation can look like.

The book also moves beyond workplace conversations. It explores how these principles apply to leadership, public policy, community building, and social change, making it relevant whether you're an executive, entrepreneur, nonprofit leader, educator, or someone simply looking to become a more confident advocate.

What makes the message memorable is its optimism. Instead of framing negotiation as conflict, Collaborative Hardball presents it as an opportunity to create value, build trust, and solve problems without sacrificing strength or conviction. I finished the book feeling that negotiation isn't just a professional skill—it's a way of creating better relationships, organizations, and communities.

[Peggy Holman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collaborative Hardball brings a critical message for our increasingly divided times: Negotiation is an everyday activity at work, at home, with friends and foes alike. HOW we approach it makes all the difference. By being clear about what matters AND respecting relationships, we are far more likely to find resolutions that work. Coleman offers principles, practices and stories – personal and professional – that can make a life changing difference in navigating conflicts large and small.

[Susanna Kearney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Book for Everyone: Even Those Outside Its World

I don't work in the spaces Susan Coleman describes, the corporate boardrooms, negotiations, organizational leadership arenas where she's built her practice. So I didn't expect "Hardball" to shake me as it did.

But it did, and here's why: Coleman doesn't just teach negotiation tactics. She traces how patriarchy gets inside women's consciousness, how it shapes what we believe we're allowed to claim, demand, and create. As a woman born in the '60s and raised by 1950s parents steeped in that culture, I saw myself everywhere in these pages. Coleman is my peer, raised in the same patriarchal air I breathed, and watching her name it, break it down, and show the path forward felt like finally having language for decades of half-conscious constraint.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Suitable for diverse groups of readers no matter what their background. Susan's many years of experience come shining through the pages. Nothing like hearing actual negotiation experience rather than just theory. Would reccommend for anyone approaching an important negotiation or simply looking for a good read on this topic.

[Lara Rosenthal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly timely and relevant for the world we live in now. Insightful, well written, with practical ways to become better negotiators and humans! This book gets my highest recommendation. A must read.

[Robert Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book on negotiation, especially so because it provides many examples of how Susan Coleman has applied her skills in her work and life. Highly recommended!