NQ®: the next leap beyond IQ and EQ
In the 21st century, success depends not only on what you know (IQ) or how you relate (EQ), but on how you negotiate. Negotiation Intelligence (NQ®) is the next essential stride.
We negotiate more than ever. In fact, any time you need someone else to reach your goals, you are negotiating. Most professionals spend over 75% of their time in negotiation—formally or informally. That makes negotiating more than a skill; it’s a way of leading, collaborating, parenting, selling… a way of life.
And because we do it so often, we negotiate by habit.
NQ® offers a science-based, future-proof roadmap designed to transform those habits—so you can lead every negotiation with clarity, confidence, and impact.
Towards breakthrough habits
In negotiation, your reflexes often speak louder than your intentions. These reflexes can either propel or hinder your progress. Negotiation Intelligence (NQ®) transforms your impact by:
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Creating deep self-awareness and pinpointing your leverage for growth with triple-loop learning.
- Recognizing the moments of choice that define every negotiation.
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Offering a proven method, practical toolkit, and systemic roadmap.
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Helping you build new reflexes—going from unaware and unable, to skilled and effective.
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Elevating negotiation from an individual activity to a strategic organizational capability.
A new playbook
We live in a post-knowledge economy defined by interdependence, partnerships, complexity, and constant change. The old rules of negotiation—win-lose, trade-offs, even win-win—fall short.
The NQ® model is built on 4 hands-on yet transformational keys to unlock negotiation mastery. They empower you to:
- Build understanding and insight, connecting the dots between goals and relationships.
- Shape opportunities and create value, not just solve problems.
- Aim higher and dare to think beyond boundaries.
- Act strategically and shape the game with purpose, at and away from the negotiation table.
Transforming you
True negotiation mastery requires more than knowing what to say. It requires knowing how to think. NQ® works across three interconnected dimensions:
- Knowledge– What you know.
- Skills– What you can do.
- Mindset– How you view, decide, and act.
Using triple-loop learning, NQ® engages all three levels to reshape your habits—translating insight into action, and strategy into sustainable behavioral change.
Ready to transform your negotiation habits?
Whether you’re negotiating daily decisions or strategic deals, your success depends on how you show up in the conversation.
Negotiation Intelligence (NQ®) helps you elevate your game—one habit, one conversation, one breakthrough at a time.
Frequently asked questions about Negotiation Intelligence (NQ®)
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What is Negotiation Intelligence (NQ®)?
Negotiation Intelligence (NQ®) is a science-based negotiation paradigm developed by Prof. Dr. Katia Tieleman, founder of NegotiationWize. It moves beyond IQ and EQ to focus on how mindset, skills and habits shape negotiation outcomes, structured around four keys: unlock fixed positions, unlock hidden value, unlock your safety kit, and shape the game.
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Who developed the NQ® model?
The NQ® model was developed by Prof. Dr. Katia Tieleman, founder of NegotiationWize, building on more than 20 years of experience as a negotiator, consultant and academic. NQ® grew out of her own research and practice, and was later explored in depth in her book Negotiation Intelligence – Onderhandelen omdenken, which built on ideas she had already been sharing with a wider audience through her work as a speaker, trainer and consultant.
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What is Katia Tieleman’s academic background?
Katia Tieleman is a professor at Vlerick Business School, where elements of her work are part of the curriculum, and a fellow at the Harvard Program on Negotiation, where she was in residence during the years Roger Fisher and William Ury were shaping the field. Negotiation Intelligence (NQ®) itself was developed independently by Katia, through her own research and consultancy practice. She combines that grounding with more than two decades of hands-on negotiation work for organizations including the UN, the OECD, the EU and the World Bank.
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How does NQ® relate to the Harvard Negotiation Project and Getting to Yes?
Getting to Yes, by Roger Fisher and William Ury, introduced principled negotiation: separating people from the problem and focusing on interests rather than positions. As a fellow at the Harvard Program on Negotiation, Katia Tieleman was shaped by that foundation. NQ® builds on it and extends it, adding a focus on the negotiator’s own mindset, a wider map of stakeholder interests, and a shift from claiming value to creating it, both at the table and before the negotiation even begins.
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How is NQ® different from traditional negotiation training?
Traditional negotiation training tends to teach tactics for a single deal. NQ® is built as a habit-change model: using triple-loop learning across knowledge, skills and mindset, it is designed to make skilled negotiation instinctive rather than something you have to consciously apply under pressure. It also extends the goal of negotiation itself, from reaching an agreement to shaping the conditions, relationships and value that outlast the deal.
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Where can I learn more about NQ® or find out my own negotiation profile?
Start with the NQ® scan to map your own negotiation profile, or read Negotiation Intelligence – Onderhandelen omdenken for the full model. For tailored guidance, book an intake with the NegotiationWize team.