I recently asked one of the best negotiators I know – a lawyer for over 50 years – for his single most critical pearl of negotiating wisdom. This lawyer, who happens to be my 82-year-old Dad, surprised me by saying it was something he only really focused on relatively...
The negotiation lasted 20 years, involved a brilliant business visionary against a very difficult personality, and resulted in two excellent movies, including one of the most iconic movies ever. The negotiation was between Walt Disney and P.L. Travers, the author of...
What can we learn from jazz musicians about negotiation? Seemingly little. Yet a new book on negotiation by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Wheeler, The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World, makes a compelling case that jazz and...
I recently concluded a few negotiations – business and personal – and learned and confirmed some things that have universal applicability to many negotiations. I have added these to my personal list of Negotiation Lessons Learned so they are front and center for me in...
I recently led a seminar with a panel of six expert negotiators from the legal and business worlds, and I asked each to share their most effective negotiation strategies. Here are some of their “pearls of wisdom” along with my thoughts on them. Three of the experts’...
Last month I shared the most effective negotiation strategies ever used – “pearls of wisdom” – by three of the six panel members from the legal and business worlds in a seminar I recently led. Here are the remaining three. Danny Ortega, Board Chair, National...
“What do we really need in almost every agreement, from a negotiation perspective?” This critical question points to the core of many negotiations. After all, if you can’t achieve your “must haves” in a negotiation – you’re usually better off walking away and not...
At stake was $150 million. AT&T was pitching its new telecommunications system. Boeing wanted to purchase it. Early in the negotiation AT&T described its reliable service, its prompt response rate and the speed with which it would fix possible problems. Boeing...
Have you ever seen someone completely lose control in a negotiation? Perhaps you inadvertently pushed one of their emotional buttons, and they let loose with a stream of invectives. Or perhaps they just suddenly started crying. Of course, perhaps it was you who lost...
