In life, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.
How often have you heard this? How closely associated are deserving and negotiating? Deserving is a reaction to an action. You have done something, so you deserve something. If you have done something good, you deserve to be rewarded. If you have done something wrong, you deserve to be punished.
Here is another truism: In business you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.
International negotiation is about action and reaction, too. If you are friendly, you will have a pleasant interaction with your counterparts. If you are aggressive, you will end up with a fight in your hands. If you respect others, you are respected. If you are honest, you earn trust. If your negotiation is well prepared, you will be successful.
Negotiation is not about winning or losing, it is about being successful. Successful negotiators manage information and people in a way that leads them to satisfactory outcomes.
This book tells you how to be an intelligent international negotiator. You are now able to plan your future negotiations by taking into account the key factors relating to culture, strategies, and tactics. By using the tools provided, you will get to your point very quickly and surely. You will design your negotiation strategies without neglecting crucial aspects of international negotiation. You will impress your counterparts with your knowledge, understanding, and open-mindedness.
Final Key Points
•Know what you want.
•Know about cultures, but know mainly about people.
•Don’t try to adjust to another culture, but respect cultural specificities.
•Develop questioning, listening, and nonverbal communication skills.
•Use the appropriate language.
•Control your emotions and manage conflict.
•Bring people together and avoid being threatening.
•Make concessions with measured risks.
•Use critical elements: information, time, and power.
•Build bridges, not barriers.
•Be incremental: Walk side-by-side with your counterpart throughout the negotiation process.
•Be curious: Look for information and knowledge.
•Be rigorous: Make sure that you know where to go.
•Be human: Make the time to get to know people and to let them know you.
•Be professional: Demonstrate competence and technical skills.
•Be humble: Ask for advice from and learn with others.
•Have fun: Make a great human experience out of each negotiation.
Be yourself and keep in mind that you are working with other selves. You are expected to build value and not to change existing ones. Negotiation is above all a human interaction. It has to be an enjoyable and enriching experience for all parties. You should take it as a life experience in which you learn from others as much as you teach them.
Now you are ready to go. There is a whole fascinating world out there just waiting for you.
Safe travels!