Blog: The Negotiation Edge

The Black Swan Group often talks about what you can do to become a more effective leader. But if your goal is reaching your full potential as a leader, learning leadership behaviors to avoid is equally important.

Keep reading to learn more about four leadership behaviors to avoid—and what you can do instead to unlock that full potential.

No matter how good of a real estate negotiator you are, you can always improve.

Here are five exercises expert real estate agents practice regularly to sharpen their skills and achieve better outcomes.

Black Swans are small bits of information the other side holds that— if uncovered—would dramatically change the course of the dialogue and, ultimately, the result of the negotiation.

The best way to discover a Black Swan is by staying curious in each conversation. Every time you sit down at the table, repeat a mantra to yourself: I have something to learn here.

This mindset forces you to listen to what’s not being said rather than the actual words. By staying curious, you reduce the chances of getting triggered during a conversation if the other side threatens, attacks, or makes outrageous demands.

The Black Swan Group often provides tips for negotiating with your direct reports and counterparts from other organizations.

However, in this post, we will share negotiation tips you can use in situations where no hierarchies exist. 

Here are some negotiation tips to keep in mind next time you navigate a difficult issue with coworkers, colleagues, and equals:

Leaders are charged with promoting their organization’s mission and getting people to produce. To influence your direct reports to do what you want without a begrudging attitude, it’s essential to employ hostage negotiation tactics and principles every day.

In the world of hostage negotiation, your goal is to influence hostage-takers to surrender. But you don’t just start the conversation by telling them to give it up. Instead, you approach the surrender in a subordinate manner, ensuring you are not viewed as a threat.  Making a concentrated effort so that the hostage-taker knows you see things from their perspective. Only at that point can you begin to accomplish your objective.

When they start new roles, some leaders feel tempted to institute changes right away to make an immediate impact.

Unless it’s an emergency, there is no need for it.

This mindset is born from insecurity. All too often, new leaders enter the mix and are worried about how people view them, causing them to try and make their mark on a new role. They are trying to impress, saying to both superiors and subordinates: Look at me.

Whereas the best leaders can help their teams unlock their full potential, those who fail at leadership doom their teams to suboptimal results, toxic cultures, and overall unpleasantness.

Keep these tips in mind to avoid leadership failure and create an environment that optimizes your team’s productivity.

In every negotiation, there are five distinct roles and responsibilities. 

In an ideal world, you would have five different people playing each of these roles. But in the world of high-stakes negotiations, teams don’t always have that luxury.

Many real estate agents use best practices to guide their careers. But when everyone follows the same best practices, they start to become common practices. To outsiders, all agents suddenly look alike.

The good news is that it is possible to set yourself apart from the competition by switching up the way you do business. With that in mind, here are five real estate negotiation tips that can help you stand out from the pack and get to the next level.

It is a common problem. You’ve locked down a tentative agreement with a counterpart, and the action is supposed to take place by May 1. But it is now June 15, and nothing has happened. They’re not calling you back or responding to your emails, but you still want to close the deal. What do you do?