what do the people that get it ‘right’, really do?What is it that elevates the good to the great, and sometimes beyond?Having looked at the subject and those who do it, some thoughts follow…
You may not have heard of Ozzie and Daniel Silna, brothers who made their fortune in the textile industry in New York in the 1960s and 70s, but this story of negotiation is a great one, and there are plenty of lessons to take from it.
By 2014 the Silna brothers had earned over $300,000,000 from the NBA despite never having played a game or indeed never having owned an NBA franchise. How they did it is a tale of planning, foresight and resilience to rival the very best commercial negotiations ever.
As a wise friend of mine once said… “you have two ears and one mouth for a reason!”
anon
Leadership frequently conjures images of someone speaking in front of the podium, or at the very least, in front of their team. It is easy to see why this image abounds however, leadership does not to be about talking others to death.
Primarily used by buyers this is where one party will play 2 or more bidding suppliers against each other to drive the price down. It is usually done on an informal basis and is most effective when the buyer does not tell each bidder what the rival bid was, merely that they have been under-cut and need to reduce their price if they wish to win the business. It is often preceded by the buyer stating that they ‘do not want to get into a Dutch Auction but…’ It is a crude form of Game Theory and is used in transactional situations often for commoditised products or services (Cold or Cool negotiations). The Dutch Auction is not good for building trust.
We are heading to San Fransisco to work with one of our key clients next week where we will be delivering negotiation and leadership skills development programs. This is after having worked with their European teams to deliver the same results.
As we move into the last months of the Brexit negotiations, something funny is going to happen to those involved. It is called pressure and it makes people do things they don’t want to.
You may have seen that Professor Richard Thaler recently won the Nobel prize for economics. Sometimes the winners of these prizes can occupy worlds which seem far removed from our own, and their theories seem to be relevant only for academia.