The Leading Edge - Summer 2008 - (Page 6)

cover continued from page 5 “Instead of looking at negotiation as destructive— arrive at a collaborative solution. That’s the way to do good business,” he says. “Negotiation failure is expensive. You can lose employees, customers, value, respect and trust in an area.” A negotiation where everyone is a winner is possible, says Robert Cialdini, past president of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology and author of INFLUENCE: Science and Practice. “Not only is it possible to find win-win solutions, it is imperative that we do in order to establish and maintain the partnerships that lead to economically efficient and personally satisfying business relationships,” he says. “Causing another party to lose in negotiation with us may well cause us to lose too—to lose the willingness of that party to deal with us in the future.” Negotiation is not a way to split up the pie where more for you is less for the other party. The approach is an interestbased one, where both parties work to see how the pie could be made bigger so everyone gets more. Pearlstein tells the classic story of two businesspeople fighting over a crate of oranges. Each had a valid claim and wanted the majority of the crate. When one asked the other how she planned to use the oranges, the woman replied that she wanted make orange marmalade. The inquisitor wanted to use the oranges for juice. By asking the question, each was able to have all the oranges, and both parties could share the cost of labor to peel them. “Their interests overlapped,” Pearlstein says. “That’s integrative, interest-based or problem-solving bargaining.” Now, he realizes that orange crate solution sounds great but that most negotiations are not as simple. Hardball, softball or more pie Executive Coach Leigh Bailey says leaders often believe that presenting a fact-based argument to the other party (an employee, vendor, etc.) is compelling enough to win the day. “This rarely works,” he says, “because negotiation and one’s point of view are based not just on facts but on one’s values, beliefs and experiences. Thus, the other hears the same facts and draws different conclusions.” Pearlstein offers three perspectives on negotiations in which people typically engage. The first is hardball—a distributive approach where parties want to figure out how to split the pie. Negotiators see it as a competition and want to make minimal concessions, hide information and undermine the other party’s position. It’s a fight. Pearlstein says the “I’m the winner” view is not a reputation most negotiators want because people don’t want to deal with them. Softball negotiations are still distributive (split the pie), but they are cooperative as well. In this negotiation, the parties make concessions expecting the other to reciprocate. But what if you could make the pie bigger, Pearlstein asks. In the bigger pie view, negotiators share more information and increase the level of trust. Negotiators build relationships, which is even more effective when dealing with the same people over and over. do your homework “One of the main elements of being a good negotiator is the hard work that goes on before the negotiation,” Pearlstein says. “People often overlook the heavy lifting that comes before the negotiation and being prepared— no matter how clever and sly the negotiator is.” Consider this anecdote: Walking into a bazaar sale, a man spots a rug that would be perfect in the office. The seller quotes a price, the man knows he can do better so he negotiates and pays half the originally quoted price. Sounds like a great deal. But that’s not necessarily the case. “Unless you really know what the merchandise is worth, there is no basis for victory. The price he paid may still be 10 times more than what it is worth,” Pearlstein says. Successful negotiators should practice before they actually negotiate—anticipate problems, develop approaches to resolution, prepare potential responses, etc. Understand your own knowledge, training and limits. Don’t try to become someone you’re not. Leverage your personality the best you can. For example, if you’re a shy person, don’t make the deal at the table. Say, “let me think about it,” or bring someone else to help in the negotiations (or to make sure you don’t make a commitment right then). Learning to negotiate does not mean you should stop (or not start) being nice. “Being nice can be a very effective negotiating technique as long as you’re firm and clear,” Pearlstein says. What are you afraid of? Author Jim Camp says the most debilitating emotion is fear. And what are most people are afraid of? Hearing someone say “no” or receiving some other form of rejec- 6 VOLUME 8 n ISSUE 4 n SUMMEr 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leading Edge - Summer 2008

The Leading Edge - Summer 2008 Contents Better Negotiations Instant-Response World Leads to New Expectations for Voice Mail Bits & Pieces Top 10 Misconceptions of Doing Business in Cyprus In a Nutshell: Q&A The Leading Edge Alliance

The Leading Edge - Summer 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.