Never underestimate the importance of trust in a team. In a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja podcast, I talked with Mark Lowther, negotiation and communication coach and former law enforcement crisis and hostage negotiator, about one of his best moments as a crisis negotiator and one of his worst. The biggest advice he could offer after going through these moments in is his life was to ensure you have ultimate trust in your team. Having…
Negotiating Performance Based Contracts
When hiring a contractor, we often put all the responsibility on them for completing what they are being hired to do, without any harm to our businesses. This is a fair notion, but there are some circumstances where we have to assume some responsibility to allow the contractor to do what we need them to do. This is the concept behind performance-based contracting. In a past episode of Negotiations Ninja, I spoke with Jeanette Nyden,…
Compromise Sucks
Compromise sucks. By definition, compromise means that both parties are losing on something in the deal. “But I compromise with my significant other all the time!”, you may say out loud. Uh huh, and how does that make you feel? Did you get what you wanted? Did your significant other? Many people think that negotiation and compromise are the same thing. They’re not. Compromise is popular because it seems fair. And if you mean fair…
Fight The Dragon and Storm The Castle!
Many old school negotiators live in the world of anchoring on a position and fighting to maintain the position. They get stuck on a particular topic and become like a dog with a bone or, if you like, a dragon trying to protect the castle. Turns out dragons aren’t very smart. They believe that negotiating is about holding your ground on the draw bridge to the castle. They’re willing to die on that draw bridge…