Does success at your job require top-notch negotiation skills? Are you in sales, purchasing/procurement, business development or customer service? Are you a lawyer, business consultant, executive, investment banker, or private equity partner? Does your job require you...
He swore at me in front of my client. I was really surprised. I was a young lawyer at the time, and he was the opposing counsel and managing partner of a prominent law firm. I had requested documents that his associate had promised, and that my client had flown in to...
We just returned from a family trip to Japan, and I couldn’t help but consider some of the culturally different negotiation approaches – and the lessons we can learn from them. Here are three. Of course, these are broad and general tendencies. And exceptions abound,...
We recently solicited bids to repaint our house from three residential painters/painting companies, all of whom came recommended by friends or family. We also requested bids for an upcoming home renovation. (Yes – our house needs some work!). Despite having gone...
I am not a huge fan of Disneyland and Disneyworld. My wife and kids love them, but I hate long lines and just don’t love rollercoasters and its other rides (largely because I don’t feel great after and it takes me a while to recover). But I do admire how Disney runs...
Shortly after being named Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger negotiated peace with then disgruntled and former board member Roy Disney (Walt’s nephew). Roy had just sued Disney over Iger’s selection and it easily could have derailed Iger’s effort to lead Disney in a bold new...
The personal threats, vitriol and escalatory social media tantrums flying between former bromance buddies Elon Musk and Donald Trump last week – and their apparent truce this week – got me thinking about how friends should effectively communicate and negotiate with...
The most common negotiation question I am asked these days relates to the current U.S.-China trade war standoff: who has stronger leverage? Here’s my answer, which may surprise some of you. But first, some history and how we got here. The U.S. initiated a tariff-based...
I recently finished tennis superstar Jimmy Connors’ autobiography The Outsider and it contained some great lessons applicable to negotiations (and life). Connors, who won 8 Grand Slam singles titles and was ranked #1 in the world for 268 weeks – 5th most of any...
