Personality Types

What do the NFL, NBA, and federal budget negotiations all have in common? Highly successful parties at the table, many of whom over their careers have developed significant egos.

Since we all have egos, why should you care? Because you should use certain techniques when negotiating with those who have especially large egos.

1.  Find out if they have an outsized ego

William Shatner in his Priceline commercials portrays a caricature of the aggressive, adversarial, competitive and slightly sleazy negotiator who wheels and deals to get you the best prices. And he gets them - in the commercials.

But do these characteristics in real life reflect the effective traits of the best negotiators? No.

By Marty Latz
August 28, 2006 The Business Journal

Costly Ego Just One Of The Major Negotiation Pitfalls
October 7, 2005 The Business Journal

I once sold an ordinary $20 bill to a lawyer in New York City for $83. How? By getting his ego involved.

By Marty Latz
January 10, 2003 The Business Journal

Remember the classic television show “Columbo?”

By Marty Latz
September 5, 2003 The Business Journal

“He just wanted me to get the deal done. “It’s time to stop the back and forth,” he said. “Just sign the deal.”

By Marty Latz
August 2, 2002 The Business Journal

You know the type: super-competitive, hard-nosed risk-takers always out to “win.”

By Marty Latz
December 22, 2000 The Business Journal

A successful businesswoman once asked me to negotiate for her in buying out her partner’s interest in a piece of property.

By Marty Latz
July 23, 1999 The Business Journal

In 1979, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware was heading to Moscow when the Senate leadership asked him to meet with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and negotiate an amendment to the SALT II arms-control treaty.

By Marty Latz
May 4, 2007 The Business Journal

“He was demanding, unorganized and he didn’t know what he really wanted. And he took a shotgun approach to the issues, all of which needed to be resolved immediately. It lasted six months, and it was incredibly frustrating.”