21/7/2021 Trump Decider in Chief - Part 2A further look at the negotiating style of Trump - including the Mythical Fixed Pie !! 3. Trump is a disruptor.
There is a great video of him at the G-7 in France where the delegates are making small talk over breakfast. Rather than play the game, Trump instead lays into the German representative for being ‘beholden to Russia’. However much the German representative tries to divert the conversation Trump carries on with the attack. It makes him seem irrational, catches the other side off balance, and was a very nice piece of pantomime for his supporters at home. Lesson - Here Trump is employing what is called ‘pacing and leading’, where Trump raises the tempo and sets the tone, then deals with the conversation on his terms. Countering this is all about preparation. If you’ve done your prep, then you will have the list of issues that you want to discuss. Keep bringing him back to those, and just ignore the grand-standing. If you know what you’re doing then you can try to match the energy and emotion, then start to lead it down to a more moderate level. But beware, if you’re not used to this, raising your own emotion to meet his might lead into an argument, something you need to avoid at all costs if you’re going to come away with a deal. People like Trump want to get you into an argument, that’s where they feel most at home. 4. Trump and the Mythical Fixed Pie. Trump believes in a fixed amount of value to be negotiated, and for Trump it’s always about getting a bigger piece of pie for himself. It’s pushing the ‘win,lose’ scenario to the extreme. In doing so there is no opportunity for building greater value, or indeed building constructive relationships that lead to a better over outcome. Lesson - when faced with someone who treats negotiation as a gladiatorial sport, be slow, be patient. Have a list ready of the items of value outside of main terms which might increase the value of the deal, and keep explaining them. Do your best to avoid the willingness to have an argument from scuppering the deal. 5. Trump Doesn’t Reciprocate! You’ll find a completely dysfunctional behaviour that means there are no normal responses to actions you might use in negotiation. Lesson - if you are going to make concessions, make sure that you express the value to the other party, so they understand what it is that is being given away, and ensure they know that their failure to reciprocate will prevent further such concessions being made. See my article on GRIT, Cold War Negotiating here GRIT - A Way of Breaking a Difficult Deadlock and Encouraging Negotiation - Striving To Settle Comments are closed.
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AuthorRichard Marshall is an Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator with over 25 years experience as a Litigation Solicitor, as well as being a qualified Solicitor-Advocate. He is the founder of Striving to Settle, through which he works as a mediator and provides negotiation training. www.strivingtosettle.co.uk Archives
August 2022
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