Avoid these 3 common mistakes when asking for a promotion, says INSEAD negotiation professor

Asking for a promotion can feel daunting and negotiation can be tricky — but learning how to navigate the process is important.

People often approach negotiations with the wrong mindset, said Horacio Falcão, INSEAD professor, negotiation expert, author, serial entrepreneur, and designer of INSEAD's "The Negotiation Course for the World," a free course on negotiations launched in November.

Instead of approaching a negotiation thinking you have the right solution and your goal is to "ram it through" to the other person, it's more beneficial to learn how to actually become a better negotiator, he said.

"For you to become a better negotiator, to some extent, you have to become a better person," he said. "You need to become more emotionally intelligent ... more patient [and] more prepared. You need to have more empathy for people."

Here are three common mistakes to avoid when negotiating for a promotion, according to Falcão.

The first thing to know about asking for a promotion is that "you should not have been waiting for the yearly review to [ask for the promotion]," said Falcão.

"A lot of people make mistakes in negotiations because they go too fast," he said. "One of the things that I tell my students a lot is 'baby step' yourself."

Earning a promotion requires trust, which takes time to build, says Falcão. Rather than waiting for their annual review to roll around to ask for a promotion, employees should bring up the conversation long before they plan to do so.

"You should be in closer touch with your supervisor, and on a more regular basis, be it by inviting them for a coffee, or having one on one [meetings]," he said.

These regular conversations not only allow you to ask questions and collect feedback so you can self-correct