Blog: The Negotiation Edge

What does it take to be a successful leader?

It’s not an Ivy League education, it’s not good looks, and it’s not gobs of money, either.

Great leaders are well rounded. They possess a number of skills and, as a result, have mastered the following five leadership roles.

Great leaders inspire their teams to do their best work. And that begins by using philosophies that are born out of high-stakes hostage negotiations.

For many leaders, however, ego and authority often get in the way of great management. When that happens, failure is usually lurking right around the corner.

But there’s an easy fix, which is to consciously and continuously try to see things from your team’s perspective by utilizing an effective leadership framework.

No matter how good a negotiator you are, you can always be better. What it all boils down to is that everyone can continuously improve their negotiation skills at any time, becoming more influential and persuasive along the way.  Being influential through the use of tactical empathy does not stop once you are out of a “business environment.

If your goal is to become better at negotiation—or you want to develop a team of expert negotiators—you may want to consider investing in negotiation training in 2020 and beyond.

You’ve got a logjam. The other side has dug in. Your boss may want you to make this deal or maybe there’s something else motivating you to work it out. The thought of giving in leaves you with a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach.

What should you do in this scenario? It’s easy: Unleash a tactical empathy nuke—a “that’s right” summary. 

Labels are the best information-gathering device out there. Bar none. This is so true that Brandon Voss of The Black Swan Group has even designated a subset of labels known as asking labels.

Why are we traditionally taught to ask questions? Because it’s the easiest way to gather information, or so teachers say. 

The Black Swan Group actually defines negotiation as an information-gathering and influence-building process. The problem is that most of the time, questions are a lousy way to gather information.

Whenever you interact with someone—whether it’s over email, on the phone, or face to face—they tend to remember two things about your encounter:

1. The most intense moment of the conversation
2. The last moment of the conversation

That said, different mediums of communication lend themselves better to different negotiation tactics. By letting those two ideas guide your negotiations and coupling them with medium-specific negotiation tools, you can become a more persuasive negotiator in any scenario.

You may not think that it’s easy to get the other side to bid against themselves. But you’d be wrong.

When you’re selling something, there’s a price point you have in mind. At the same time, your counterpart has their own general motivations when they come to the table. They have their own number in mind—or at least a range of numbers in mind—for what they’re willing to spend. And that’s what they’re focusing on.

If you want to get your counterpart to bid against themselves, you need to keep one thing in mind: The interaction is not about you—it’s about them.

You’ve landed a new job or been offered a promotion. Awesome.

How do you get paid more? Use the following subject line and then follow The Black Swan Group’s email negotiation guidelines.

How can I be guaranteed to be involved in projects that are critical to the strategic future of the company?

Anyone can be a leader. But not every leader is an effective one.

Great organizations are built on the backs of effective leadership. That’s because effective leaders inspire their teams to reach their full potential and can even get them excited to show up to the office every day.

If you’re looking to take your leadership skills to the next level, here are four characteristics that effective leaders possess.

Employees don’t quit because they hate their jobs. In large part, they quit because they hate their managers.

On the flip side, great managers have the ability to inspire their teams and encourage their employees to reach their full potential.

But what exactly makes a great leader?

Although there’s no cookie-cutter framework you can follow to become a great leader, here are five behaviors that effective managers engage in.