Blog: The Negotiation Edge

The most dangerous negotiation is the one you don’t know you’re in.

Luckily, there’s an easy way to become aware of this: If the words I want or I need are about to come out of your mouth, then you’re about to enter into a negotiation.

Next time this is happening to you, try this little exercise that works like a charm every time. It’s easy peasy, and it’s great practice for the cold read and a quick accusations audit.

As MIT Professor Peter Senge once said, “the only sustainable competitive advantage is an organization’s ability to learn faster than the competition.”

How do you learn faster than the competition? Read. 

As a bonus, reading is also enjoyable and fulfilling. 

With that in mind, here are 12 books that should be in any expert negotiator's library.

To many, leadership failure looks like a toxic boss scolding their employees and causing a mass exodus.

But true leadership failure comes in other forms.

For example, when organizations don’t understand the value of empathy.

Yes is a useless word.

When anything is really important, we don’t even bother with yes. It’s B.S. anyway and almost always fake.

When it’s important and we have to close, our goal is to get a no.

Leaders have the power to make or break a company.

At Black Swan, we have a handful of negotiation terms that you’ve likely heard us say over and over again. Why? We are not in the business of reinforcing things that don’t affect your ability to influence your bottom line.

You’ve read the book. You keep tabs on our blog. Now, in an effort to sharpen your negotiation skills even further, you’re thinking about attending one of our live events. But maybe you don’t know what to expect—which is why you should continue reading. 

Everyone who grasps the importance of that’s right is making incredible breakthroughs in their negotiations. They are killing it. And you will, too. It’s the solid gold response that is 10x better than hearing yes could ever be.

We negotiate salaries. We negotiate real estate. We negotiate with our utility providers. We negotiate with our friends and family. No matter what you do for a living, where you live, or what kind of lifestyle you have, you can’t avoid negotiating—at least every now and again.

To increase the chances your next negotiation goes the way you expect, make sure you know the top three negotiation mistakes—and what you can do to avoid them.

The business world runs on email. In fact, studies have found that the average professional receives 121 emails every day.

Winning with email starts with having the right approach. 

Use these four rules to guide your email efforts, and increase the chances your counterpart responds to each message you send as you hope they will: