Prior to February 2020 the chances are you had hardly ever conducted a negotiation by video call, if at all. And probably since March 2020 you have not conducted many negotiations in the same room as the other party, if any.
That’s what you call a pivot.
Negotiating from home
“Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born” Nikola Tesla
Working from home has become the norm for many millions of people over the past weeks and months. There are a great many positives, but it is often all too easy to focus on the negatives – the current climate may make it feel hard, if not impossible, to advocate for yourself.
Whatever has happened to your business this year, the need for robust negotiation skills and strategy building has never been stronger.
Some organisations have got ahead of the game, and others have been left behind, but wherever your company is right now it is never too late to make a change.
Negotiation in a crisis – is it different?
How many negotiations are taking place as you read this article? I would suggest hundreds, if not thousands. They will involve, policy, law, money, goods & services and all of the other variables that one would expect in any negotiation. What sets apart negotiation in June 2020 from other times is the fact that many of these negotiations will (literally) involve life and death decisions. Conversations taking place right now in board rooms and presidents’ offices about social distancing, remote working and when to re-open schools and shops will all have an effect on the way this pandemic plays out.
good or bad, the example you set will be followed…
even the most sophisticated studies and investigations have yet to make leadership, and its development, more science than art. The four ‘Cs’ – competence, character, creativity, and charisma remain difficult qualities to quantify, let alone cultivate. Growing effective leaders is challenging work.
“Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest”
Napoleon Bonaparte
Mutual interest or self interest?
Human nature has been laid bare in the UK over the past few weeks. This, of course, may be the case for the rest of the world gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic, but I’ll confine my thoughts to the UK, after all it’s where I live.
change, cognitive, coronavirus, influencing, leadership, management
Trust and Empowerment
“Tell people what you want doing, not how to achieve it, you will be amazed by their creativity”
Dwight D Eisenhower.
Having spent a long time in the Public Sector (the British Army), I have often thought that it is easier to let go, to let your team ‘crack on’ when the bottom line is not measured in financial terms. After all, if there are no share holders screaming for more profit and no board looking down from the ivory tower expecting you to deliver more £s, $s etc then letting other people make the decisions has to be straight forward, doesn’t it?
An interesting phenomenon.
According to urbandictionary.com:
The James Bond Effect (also called 007 Effect) is a theory in propaganda and political circles, whereby the first detailed opinion/summary that someone hears or reads on a particular topic, is the one they are most likely to adopt.
We do a lot of work with Premiership football clubs in conjunction with the Football Association, and this week we delivered a bespoke negotiation program to a select audience of Technical Directors from mainly Premiership clubs, including the Women’s game.
Dan Ashworth was Technical Director at the FA and was responsible for the appointment of Gareth Southgate amongst other things; before that he did the same role at West Bromwich Albion. He is now Technical Director at Brighton and Hove Albion, and so his experience of negotiations in the pressure cooker environment of the transfer world is second to none.
At the end of the program Dan was happy to share with us his thoughts on the day – here is what he had to say:
agent, football, negotiation, recruitment, sport, talentid, transfer
Due to demand, we are coming back to the USA to deliver another Open 2.5 day advanced program. We have a couple of places left, so if you know someone who could benefit, contact us to find out more.