What is the first thing that comes to your mind when somebody says negotiation? Usually, it is something associated with high insensitivity. In this Expert Insight Interview, Simon Haigh discusses mindful negotiation. Simon Haigh is a growth strategist, coach, author, speaker, leadership, mindset, and brand advisor, as well as among the top 100 negotiators globally.
The interview discusses:
- The mindful approach to negotiation
- Aspects of gender and culture
- Importance of soft skills
The Mindful Approach
One thing that this pandemic did well for humanity is that it brought us closer to each other, and it made us remember how to be more sensitive towards each other. This impact is also noticeable in the business world. Every business values risk, revenue, and reputation the most, but the more important is how it achieves those goals. The key is to be mindful and to use subtle negotiation skills such as reasoning, friendliness, and bargaining in addition to the old school, cold negotiation. It feels like in the pool of business skills taught nowadays, negotiating is a bit neglected because that skill comes from the experience. People learn it by doing it, but the key is in being aware of your side, the other side, and the overall situation that cause negotiation. That awareness is achieved by listening, asking the right questions, and being authentic while doing it. People have the power to see through fake, so it is of utmost importance, to be honest during the negotiation process.
Gender and Cultural
There is research showing that using feminine traits in negotiation brings more sustainable deals. Thus, gender balance only increases the awareness needed for a successful negotiation. Another factor that can influence the negotiation is a cultural difference. Cultural differences exist on national levels, as well as on regional levels. For instance, Israeli culture is very casual and informal, which is very different from the Japanese unique traditional culture. Also, New Yorkers are very straightforward, while people in the South are more subtle.
Embrace the Soft Skills
By doing the due diligence, we can access what kind of power (networking, informational, relationship, or hierarchical) the other side has. And during the negotiation, by allowing the silent breaks and listening to the other side, it is easy to access how much of that power the other side actually has. Considering that the pandemic forced us to fast advance one whole decade in the way how we do business, the same principles hold for the virtual negotiations as well. Especially now, when social distancing is encouraged worldwide, the commonly known soft skills such as negotiation, communication, networking, etc. are of great significance to our both professional and personal growth.
Our Host
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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