Leadership negotiation. Summary chapter 1

Summary Chapter 1
The nature of negotiation

In this chapter, the authors examine the negotiation process. Various examples show how negotiation permeates our daily lives. The four key elements of the negotiation process are:

 Managing interdependence
o Parties understanding the ways they are dependent on each other to attain their goals

 Engaging in mutual adjustments
o Goal adjustment in order to craft agreement satisfactory to both parties

 Creating value
o Win-win outcome

 Managing conflict
o Involving strategies to maximize benefits of conflict and limit its costs

Leadership negotiation. Summary chapter 2

Summary Chapter 2
Strategy and Tactics of Distributive Bargaining

In this chapter, the authors describe the strategy and tactics of distributive bargaining. Distributive bargaining begins with setting opening, target, and resistance points. A set of items to be negotiated is called a bargaining mix. Each item can have opening, target, and resistance points.

Two broad efforts describe the options for a negotiator to achieve a successful resolution; to influence the other party’s belief about what is possible, and to learn as much as possible about the other party’s position, particular ly about their resistance points. The negotiator’s goal is to reach a final settlement as close as possible to the other party’s resistance point.

Distributive bargaining is basically a conflict situation wherein parties seek their own advantage. Effective distributive bargaining is a process that requires careful planning, strong execution, and constant monitoring of the other party’s reactions.

Leadership negotiation. Summary chapter 3

Summary Chapter 3
Strategy and Tactics of Integrative Negotiation

In this chapter, the authors describe the strategy and tactics of integrative negotiation. Integrative negotiation is the process of defining negotiation goals and engaging in a process that allows both parties to maximize their objectives. Successful integrative negotiation requires several processes;
‐ Parties must understand each other’s true needs and objectives
‐ They must create a free flow of information and open exchange of ideas
‐ Focus on similarities
‐ Search for solutions meeting the goals of both sides

The four key steps in the integrative negotiation process are;
‐ Identifying and defining the problem
‐ Identifying interests and needs
‐ Generating alternative solutions
‐ Evaluating and selecting alternatives

Factors that facilitate successful integrative negotiation are;
‐ Common goals and objectives
‐ Confidence in their problem-solving ability
‐ Belief that the other party’s needs are real
‐ Commitment to make their relationship productive
‐ Trust each other
‐ Clear communication to understand the other party’s needs
‐ Understand the dynamics of integrative negotiations
Integrative negotiation is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work to create the right conditions for the process to end successfully.

From my personal experience in business, clear communications about common goals and objectives as well as trust in the other party are two essential components of successful integrative negotiation.

Leadership negotiation. Summary Chapter 4

Summary Chapter 4
Negotiation: Strategy and Planning

In this chapter, the authors discuss what negotiators should do before opening negotiations. They suggest that effective planning and target setting are essential to achieving objectives.

Consequences of insufficient planning include:
• Negotiators fail to set clear objectives that serve as benchmarks for evaluating offers
• Negotiators may not understand their strengths and weaknesses
• Negotiators cannot depend only on being clever and articulate

The discussion of strategy and planning starts by exploring the process of strategy development, starting with the negotiators goals and objectives. The resulting planning roadmap is described as follows;
1. Understand the key issues to be resolved in the upcoming negotiations
From analysis, research, experience, and consultation with experts
2. Assemble all the issues together and understand the complexity of the bargaining mix
Prioritize the issues and determine which issues are linked or separate
3. Understand the key interests at stake that underlie the issues
Interests may be substantive, process-based, and relationship-based
4. Define the limits and alternatives (When do we away, when do we present other deals)
Establish two clear points: Resistance and alternative points
5. Clarify the targets and the opening points (Where do we begin the discussion)
Define a specific target point and the asking price, understand trade-offs
6. Understand my constituents and what do they expect of me
Assess all the key parties by completing a "field analysis"
7. Understand the other party ("Know your enemy as well as you know yourself", Sun Tsu)
Understand the other party’s resources, interests, resistance points, strategy, etc
8. Plan the process by which I will sell my ideas to the other party
Present a clear and compelling case and counter arguments effectively
9. Define the protocol (Agenda, who will be present, where and when do we negotiate)
10.Design a process to track and document negotiations and to understand whether a good agreement has been reached

The plan presented above may need to be modified as discussions proceed but the absence of such a plan will increase the chances of failure. From my own experience in project management, effective planning is indeed an element of success.

Leadership negotiation. Summary chapter 5

Summary Chapter 5
Perception, Cognition, and Emotion

In this chapter, the authors describe how perception, cognition, and emotion are the basic building blocks of all social encounters, including negotiation. Perceptual distortions include four types; stereotyping, halo effect, selective perception, and projection. Framing also influences perceptions in negotiation. Framing is defined as "the subjective mechanism through which people evaluate and make sense of situations, leading them to pursue or avoid subsequent actions".

Cognitive biases tend to impede negotiator performance and include;
‐ Irrational escalation
‐ Mythical fixed-pie
‐ Anchoring & Adjust
‐ Issue framing
‐ Info availability
‐ Winner’s curse
‐ Overconfidence
‐ Law of small numbers
‐ Self-serving biases
‐ Endowment effect
‐ Ignoring other’s cognitions
‐ Reactive devaluation

The role of mood and emotion has been researched extensively during the last decade, according to the author. The difference between mood and emotion is based on three characteristics, specificity, intensity, and duration. Negotiations create both positive and negative emotions which. in turn, influence outcomes.

From my personal experience in negotiating contracts, for example, it is helpful when:
‐ both sides have similar frames that can adjust as negotiations evolve
‐ irrational escalation of commitments is avoided, no matter how much a positive outcome is desired
‐ keeping a realistic view of the endowment effect
‐ positive feelings are maintained throughout the negotiation

If these points are kept in mind, a successful outcome, or "win-win" for both parties is more likely.

Leadership negotiation. Summary chapter 6

Summary Chapter 6
Communication

Negotiation is another form of interpersonal communication. Verbal and non-verbal processes are critical to achieving negotiation goals and to resolving conflicts.

In this chapter, the authors examine the process by which negotiators communicate their respective interests, positions, and goals. The chapter describes what is communicated and how people communicate during negotiations. One section in the chapter offers ways to improve communication in negotiation; some of these are;

‐ The use of questions
‐ Passive and active listening
‐ Acknowledgement
‐ Role reversal

If these points are kept in mind, a successful outcome, or "win-win" for both parties is more likely. From my own experience, the ability to communicate, that is, engage the other party is essential to a good outcome. The careful use of humor, or better said, displaying a sense of humor often "breaks the ice" and facilitates the on-going discussion.

Leadership negotiation. Summary Chapter 7

Summary Chapter 7
Negotiation – Finding and using negotiation power

This chapter explains the nature of power in negotiation. "Power over’ suggests domination and coercion. "Power with" suggests collaboration and joint development of goals and objectives and is a critical to successful integrative negotiation.

There are four sources of power;
• Informational (information and expertise)
• Personal (psychological orientation, cognitive, motivational, moral, and dispositions)
• Position-based (legitimate power and resource and control)
• Relationship-based (goal interdependence and referent power)
• Contextual (availability of BATNAs, agents, culture)

Power can be elusive and fleeting in negotiation and is only the capacity to influence.

From my personal experience I believe power should be used wisely, that is, it is better to take a long-term view of a business relationship. Exercising power to gain a short-term advantage may become costly in terms of future cooperation and influence. A cost-effective negotiation outcome is usually a win-win outcome.

Leadership negotiation. Summary chapter 8

Negotiation – Ethics in negotiation

This chapter discusses factors that negotiators consider when they decide whether particular tactics are unethical. The study of ethically ambiguous tactics was approached from a decision-making framework. The authors proposed that that a negotiator’s decision to use ethically ambiguous tactics typically originates from a desire to increase one’s negotiating power by manipulating the landscape of information available.

The use of unethical tactics may deliver a short-term advantage but the damage to a reputation may lead to diminished effectiveness in the long term.

From my own experience, the use of unethical tactics by the other party sometimes originates from one’s own lack of information. This leaves an open field to the unethical party to manipulate the available information to gain an advantage. President Reagan’s strong negotiating style with the Soviets on the issues of nuclear disarmament during his presidency was famously quoted as saying: "Trust but verify". That, to me, seems to be a very effective tactic to ensure ethical behavior from the other party.

Leadership negotiation. Summary Chapter 9

Summary Chapter 9
Negotiation – Relationships in negotiation

We have studied negotiation as if the parties do not know each other, do not expect to deal with each other in the future, and are engaged in a market transaction only over price and quantity.
Chapter 9 explores the way that existing relationships affect negotiation. Many business negotiations are conducted by parties who already know each other and their relationships strongly affect the negotiation process.

The authors argue that most negotiations occur within these relationship contexts adding a level of unique complexities.

From my personal experience, I find that positive personal relationships are a key success factors for successful negotiation. Lacking that relationship increases the gap negotiators must bridge before success can take place. More time and effort must be spent in arriving to a mutual understanding.

Leadership negotiation. Summary chapter 10

Summary Chapter 10 Negotiation – Multiple parties and teams

We have assumed so far that negotiation is a bilateral process. Yet many are multilateral or group deliberations, more than two negotiating parties involved, each with its own agendas. The complexity involved in multiparty negotiation increase greatly necessitating great care to manage the process to arrive at a successful outcome.

From my own experience, my practice is to spend a great deal of time in the pre-negotiation stage ensuring that every detail of the upcoming negotiation is planned and prepared. Thorough planning during this stage will minimize the probability of a surprise event while increasing the likelihood of a successful outcome.

Leadership negotiation. Summary Chapter 11

Summary Chapter 11
Negotiation – International and cross-cultural negotiation

Chapter 11 explored the complexities of international and cross-cultural negotiation. Environmental and immediate context have an important effect on international negotiations.

The environmental factors are;
• Political and legal pluralism
• International economics
• Foreign governments and bureaucracies
• Instability
• Ideology
• Culture
• External stakeholders

Immediate context factors are;
• Relative bargaining power
• Levels of conflict
• Relationship between negotiators
• Desired outcomes
• Immediate stakeholders

Negotiators must understand all these factors to be successful.
Cultural differences also affect negotiations;
• Definition of negotiation
• Negotiation opportunity
• Selection of negotiators
• Protocol
• Communications
• Time sensitivity
• Risk propensity
• Groups vs. individuals
• Nature of agreements
• Emotionalism

The chapter ended with a discussion of how to manage cultural differences in negotiation through a choice of strategies according to the level of familiarity; unilateral or joint strategies.

Leadership negotiation. Summary Chapter 12

Summary Chapter 12
Negotiation – Best practices in negotiations

Chapter 12 discussed best practices in negotiations. They are;

• Be prepared
• Diagnose the fundamental structure of the negotiation
• Identify and work the BATNA
• Be willing to walk away
• Master the key paradoxes of negotiation
• Remember the intangibles
• Actively manage coalitions
• Savor and protect your reputation
• Remember that fairness and rationality are relative
• Continue to learn from experience

I find these best practices very relevant to what I have seen during negotiations. Applying these practices will go a long way toward successful outcomes. I especially value "Be prepared". Being prepared gives the negotiator an edge in influencing negotiations.

Leadership communication. Summary chapter 1

This chapter helped us learn to develop a leadership communication strategy. The four major components of effort follow;

• Establish a clear communication purpose
• Develop a communication strategy
• Analyze the audience
• Organize written and oral communication effectively

Once a purpose is defined, generating ideas becomes important. Brainstorming, idea mapping, the 5W journalistic question, and the decision tree will assist in refining and clarifying purpose. The communication strategy framework is presented next to ensure that all angles are taken into account before delivering the message. Analyzing the audience is fundamental to an effective communication strategy since the characteristics of the audience will determine the communication approach. Organizing written and oral communication includes tools such as storyboards which are specially effective when working in groups.

Leadership Communication. Summary chapter 2

Leadership Communication
Summary Chapter 2
Creating leadership documents

Chapter 2 examined the steps necessary to create leadership documents. These documents would enable managers to assert their influence in a wide range of organizational settings. The authors recommend;

• Select he most effective communication medium
o E-mail, reports, etc
• Create individual or team documents
o Use the individual document creation process or the multiple-writer approach
• Organize document content coherently
o Open with power, develop with reason, close with grace
• Conform to content and format expectations in correspondence
o Understand the difference between informal e-mails and formal memos
• Include expected contents in reports
o Observe the purpose of the report; inform, instruct, or persuade
• Format business documents effectively
o Pay attention to layout, spacing and alignment, font size, headings, and more

From personal experience, I am very careful with business documents. I usually review them several time before sending them; the list provided here is thorough, focused and helpful in ensuring leadership communication.
　

Leadership communication. Summary Chapter 3

Summary Chapter 3
Strategy and Tactics of Integrative Negotiation

In this chapter, the authors describe the strategy and tactics of integrative negotiation. Integrative negotiation is the process of defining negotiation goals and engaging in a process that allows both parties to maximize their objectives. Successful integrative negotiation requires several processes;

‐ Parties must understand each other’s true needs and objectives
‐ They must create a free flow of information and open exchange of ideas
‐ Focus on similarities
‐ Search for solutions meeting the goals of both sides

The four key steps in the integrative negotiation process are;
‐ Identifying and defining the problem
‐ Identifying interests and needs
‐ Generating alternative solutions
‐ Evaluating and selecting alternatives

Factors that facilitate successful integrative negotiation are;
‐ Common goals and objectives
‐ Confidence in their problem-solving ability
‐ Belief that the other party’s needs are real
‐ Commitment to make their relationship productive
‐ Trust each other
‐ Clear communication to understand the other party’s needs
‐ Understand the dynamics of integrative negotiations

Integrative negotiation is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work to create the right conditions for the process to end successfully.

From my personal experience in business, clear communications about common goals and objectives as well as trust in the other party are two essential components of successful integrative negotiation.

Leadership Communication. Summary chapter 4

Leadership Communication
Summary Chapter 4
Developing and delivering leadership presentations


"Leaders must master public speaking, …..so that they project a positive ethos for themselves and their companies" say the authors. The importance of effective leadership presentations was demonstrated by President Obama who entered national politics because of his speaking ability. This chapter leverages the tools and techniques of previous chapters to the art of public speaking. The authors describe the Three "P" process for developing leadership presentations: planning, preparing, and presenting.

A challenge I found in the business world was in the form of delivering venture capital presentations where I or a colleague would "make a pitch" to capital investors soliciting seed funds to finance a start-up company in Silicon Valley. The presentation was scheduled to take no more than twelve minutes and should include a compelling value proposition, team introduction, financial analysis, development and sales projection, and a technology and product description. If the idea was attractive to an investor the presenter would be invited to a more extensive and formal presentation. The challenge was to condense all that information into six or seven slides while speaking in an engaging and interesting manner. Although I eventually got comfortable delivering our message I must say we did not get funded.

Leadership Communication. Summary chapter 5

Leadership Communication
Summary Chapter 5
Using graphics and Powerpoint for a leadership edge

This chapter explain the importance of how and when to use graphics in leadership presentations. It is said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Graphics help explain concepts easier than plain words, especially when dealing with quantitative subjects. Knowing how to deliver a message with words and visual is a great skill and gives the speaker a leadership edge.

A few years ago I attended a presentation by William Schraeger, who wrote the book “Serious play”. His message was about the value of conducting extensive prototype testing before new products reached a production stage; the benefit would be great in terms of cost savings, quality improvements, and time to market. I was struck by his presentation style; there were no written words in his Powerpoint slides, other than the title. His slides contained only pictures which he explained in such an effective and engaging manner that written words would have been superfluous. That presentation clearly reflected Schraeger’s superb intelligence and mastery of the subject.

Since then I have tried to imitate that style by introducing appropriate graphics in my presentations hoping to achieve, in a modest way, a similar effect on the audience as William Schraeger did that day.

Leadership Communication. Summary Chapter 6

Leadership Communication
Summary Chapter 6
Developing emotional intelligence and cultural literacy to strengthen leadership communication

Chapter 6 coaches students on how to develop emotional intelligence and cultural literacy to strengthen leadership communication. The following steps are required:

· Appreciating the value of emotional intelligence
· Increasing self-awareness
· Improving non-verbal skills
· Improving listening skills
· Mentoring others and providing feedback
· Understanding the value of cultural literacy
· Using a cultural framework to understand differences

In terms of increasing self-awareness, the authors explain the Myers Briggs Type indicator, a testing tool widely used in business that suggests an individual’s psychological profile. The MBTI consists of four dichotomies, as follows:

· Introvert vs. extravert – how one is energized
· Sensing vs. intuitive – how one interprets the world
· Thinking vs. feeling – how one makes decisions
· Judging vs. perceiving – one’s approach to life and work

The authors introduce a cultural framework concept to develop a sense of competence. The framework includes five cultural variables; context, information flow, power, language, and time.

From my own experience, emotional intelligence is a key success factors for leaders in business. Leadership communication is not possible without an appropriate emotional intelligence component; I have observed many times how very intelligent and well prepared colleagues do not succeed in their professions because they seem to lack the right emotional intelligence content in their approach. I have also observed that emotional intelligence is not a static quality but a dynamic one. As new tools, media, and cultural awareness evolve so does one’s own emotional intelligence capability.

Leadership communication. Summary chapter 7

Leadership Communication
Summary Chapter 7
Leading productive management meetings


Chapter 7 provides very useful and practical information on how to conduct effective management meetings. Five elements of successful meetings are:

· Deciding when a meeting is a best forum
· Planning
· Conducting a productive meeting
· Managing conflict
· Ensuring meeting leads to action

From my own experience, the average worker avoids meetings mostly because they are considered a waste of time. Meeting leaders rarely observe all the five steps shown above. I attribute the most common cause for “meeting failure” to a lack of discipline regarding the meeting objectives. Punctuality and time limits are usually not observed, distractions are allowed into the agenda, and outcomes are not clear or not enforced.

Observance of the methods recommended by the authors will improve the chances of holding productive and interesting meetings.

Leadership Communication
Summary Chapter 8
Building and leading high-performing teams


Chapter 8 describes the process to create and lead high-performing teams. The following steps are necessary;

· Building an effective team
· Establishing the necessary team work processes
· Managing the people side of teams
· Handling team issues and conflicts
· Helping virtual teams succeed

Katzenbach and Smith’s team basics framework provide a tool to help establish a team’s characteristics. According to their framework, performance results, personal growth, and collective work products represent the outcome of the work of the team.

Ground rules include leadership, communication, participation, preparation, conflict management, work products, and more.

Managing the people side of teams includes responsibilities, experiences, expectations, personality, and cultural differences

The chevron chart of five “A’s” is a memory device to help remember the steps to manage conflict; assess, acknowledge, adjust attitude, act, and analyze.

Virtual teams are challenged by distance, time, and geographical dispersion. Effective management of these factors helps these teams succeed.

I read this chapter with special interest since, throughout my career, I have formed many teams that have distinguished themselves for their high performance. For project teams high performance has been categorized as fully achieving the team’s purpose, within schedule, and under budget. In general, I have found that to achieve this level of performance, teams must have, as a minimum;

* Unity of purpose/ clear mission
* “What’s in it for me” reward (career advancement, tangible or intangible incentive)
* Sufficient resources (material, skills, experience)

Chapter 9 summary. Leadership communications

Leadership Communication
Summary Chapter 9
Establishing leadership through strategic internal communication


Chapter 9 describes the importance of effective internal communication in helping the organization achieve its vision and in motivating employees do their best work.

Establishing leadership through strategic internal communication is achieved according to the following steps;

* Recognize the strategic role of employee communication
* Assess internal communication effectiveness
* Establish effective internal communication
* Use mission and vision to strengthen internal communication
* Design and implement effective change communication

From personal experience, I believe establishing leadership through strategic internal communication is a very difficult undertaking. When things are going well, employees will accept the organization communication standards and participate as required. When things are not well, say, the company needs to downsize, any corporate communication is received with a great deal of skepticism. Even the most sincere efforts to communicate are disregarded by workers. Leaders under those conditions, one-way communication, will suffer from poor feedback from employees.

Chapter 10 summary

Leadership Communication
Summary Chapter 10
Leading through effective external relations

Chapter 10 deals with how to establish leadership through effective external relations. A roadmap to achieve this goal includes;

* Developing an external relations strategy
* Building and maintaining a positive corporate image
* Working with the news media
* Handling crisis communication

A communication strategy framework can be used to develop an external relations strategy and includes clarity of purpose, identifying the major audience and stakeholders, and selecting a spokesperson(s).

Building a positive corporate image should include the following dimensions; media relations, corporate public relations, corporate identity, government relations, and investor relations.

Working with the news media involves media interviews requiring great preparation and good performance during the interview.

Handling crisis communications requires responsiveness, speed, crisis message consistency, and more to mitigate whatever negative effects the crisis has brought.

From a personal perspective, I believe the BP response to the media and Congress has been extremely poor. This loss of image was compounded by an out-of-touch CEO who seemed to know very little about many things related to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Apparently, BP’s internal communication staff were unprepared to handle that crisis and, therefore, were unable to protect BP from what has turned out to be an environmental and public relations disaster.
-End of summary-