I was recently asked by someone new to negotiation what books to read first. Here are the five I suggested.
1. Gain the Edge! Negotiating to Get What You Want by Martin Latz. Of course I recommended my book first! My goal in writing Gain the Edge was to develop a comprehensive guide that provides the experts’ proven strategies and principles – what I call the Five Golden Rules of Negotiation – plus specific tips, techniques and even phrases to use at the negotiation table.
2. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William Ury and Bruce Patton. This is one of the seminal books about negotiation and serves as a great foundation for further study.
3. Getting Past No: Negotiating Your Way From Confrontation to Cooperation by William Ury. Building on Getting to Yes, this book explores how to turn adversaries into negotiating partners.
4. Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini. While not specifically about negotiation, this book nevertheless shares key insights about human behavior that all negotiators should know.
5. Built to Win: Creating a World-Class Negotiating Organization by Hallam Movius and Lawrence Susskind. This groundbreaking book addresses the important of creating and implementing negotiation best practices within organizations.
Of course, there are many other great books about negotiation and other resources as well. Which ones would you recommend?