Your Weekly Walkaway - You Are Much More Equal Than You Think! (Negotiation Power)
Newsletter Issue No. 1 (September 13th 2022)
The Weekly Walkway is published weekly and highlights negotiation in its ‘good’, ‘bad’ and sometimes ‘downright ugly’ forms.
What to expect?
Tactic of the Week - yup, Exactly what it says;
Thought of the Week - provoking, relevant, valuable and insightful;
Your Week - your negotiation stories (minus sensitive information, of course) or ask questions about negotiation for the community to answer;
Their Week - a few select global news stories for your entertainment and information, including commentary;
Quote of the Week - yup, exactly what it says.
Remember: You are a negotiator!
You are always managing some form of conflict, a difference in opinion or interest.
TACTIC OF THE WEEK
The Angry Gorilla
Using ‘emotion’ against you is to be expected and you should be aware of The Angry Gorilla at all times. Humans like to be liked and the little voice in your head wants to keep you safe from conflict.
Your counterpart may bang the table, shout and rage like an angry gorilla, triggering your fight, flight, freeze or flirt response.
Always plan for the possibility of tactics. Control your emotions. Stick to the plan.
If the angry gorilla continues, leave, telling them you know it is a tactic, that it is inappropriate. Warn them of the consequences and that their behaviour will not change your plan. Then re-schedule.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
Blog Post / Thought Leadership
You Are Much More Equal Than You Think! (Negotiation Power)
Power gives ‘you’ the ability to control people and events. So he or she who has power has options.
But. ‘You’ are much more powerful, much more equal, than you think!
The only reason you might feel 'they' are more powerful than 'you' is because of that little voice in your head.
Stop!
Do not give them power. Don’t confuse the perception of power with what is REAL power. Your own objectives make you worry about what is going on in your own head rather than what is going on in their head.
If you allow emotion to control you.. you will give away what power you have.
Get out of your head... and get into theirs.
We use the lighthouse as a visual metaphor, representing the need to climb above the storm; the emotion, the conflict and the issues to look down from a different angle and see people and circumstances from a different perspective.
You Negotiate with People. People just like you. They have very similar pressures and triggers that you have.
How are they being performance managed? Are they performing?
How are they rewarded? What are their interests? What motivates them?
What are their deadlines? Are they in charge of their time or is someone else?
Where others get caught in the wind and the rain of the storm, you need to gain that 360° view from the top of your lighthouse. Get out of your head.. and get into theirs.
"Power comes from you. You can either give someone power and have your power taken away from you OR you can choose to be powerful"
Five Laws of POWER
Scarcity
Authority
Choice
Change
Time
Alone, linked or all together, each can be used against you, or you can use them in your favour. You decide.
How can you use these in your life;
Time and Scarcity - When would you buy that sofa you wanted? At the beginning of the month or maybe at the end when the salesperson is reaching for their targets? How about at the end of the Quarter?
Choice - Would you interview one builder or many for your house growth plans? Never fall in love once.. always have alternatives, and always foster your BATNA's (Best Alternative to A Negotiated Outcome).
Choice and Change - If a counterpart gave you options (not so smelly, smelly or smellier) would you accept one or look to re-package them? Yes, of course, repackage them in your favour.
Authority - Why negotiate with a junior? You may like them, you may have a relationship with them but can they agree to your deal? Are they there to block you, to focus you on PRICE? Wouldn't you want to negotiate with their manager or the manager's manager who can agree more?
Where Does Real Power Come From?
You need to understand how much real power you have and how much you need. Equally you need to understand how much power they have.
Ask yourself these questions to analyse your real power vs theirs;
Supply and demand. Who's Brand / Product / Proposition / Value is strongest? Who is of more value to whom? Who has the most valuable proposition or offering?
RAD (Relationship. Awareness. Demand). Who has the stronger relationships? Who has the strongest relationships with senior management?
Which party is going through change? Who has a history of being able to change? Who does not like change?
History. What happened before? Who is known for being easy? Who is known for being tough or difficult? Who is known for doing what they say? Who has a history of following through? Who is known for not following through.
BATNA. How much do you need each other? How dependent are you on each other? Who has options, alternatives? How much of your business is done together? Who has the most competition?
Time. Who has a deadline? Who is under time pressure?
Information. Who knows more about each other's issues and circumstances? Who is better prepared? Who has a stronger planning process? Who has controlled their information the best?
And here’s another thing;
Consider. Anyone using tactics against you is trying to change the perception of power in their favour. Therefore - anyone using tactics against you is suggesting, what? Maybe, that they think you are powerful.
Summary
He or she who has power has options. Do not give your power away just because you FEEL you have little power. Remember, you are much more powerful than you think.
Analyse what is ‘real power’ vs your ‘perception of power’ is;
Make 'challenging' the perception of power a primary feature in your negotiation planning;
Never wing it. Always consider power as a shifting dimension. It is ever-changing.
Next Week we will discuss what happens if you find you have little or no real power. What are your Choices?
Use tactics to improve the perception of your power;
Deal in rewards not threats;
OR ensure you do everything to negotiate a Western Negotiation.
YOUR WEEK
Share your stories. Ask questions.
I just successfully renewed a contract with a value of €450,000 where I expected more conflict.
“I believe this result was achieved because I disempowered myself from the talking and empowered my team to negotiate on our behalf. I managed the process (thinking) and my team did the talking. This enabled us to listen more and take time to answer their questions and manage conflict. We prepared in advance, knowing what steps we would make and what was our walkaway. We opened more extreme than usual. My team was much more confident because of this preparation and my assistance as a manager rather than the negotiator. This enabled them to manage their questions (what to answer and what not to answer) and to ask our own questions (which variables were most important to them). With this information we got them to make an extra move, which saved us €10,000 per year and a renewal for two years.”
THEIR WEEK
Air France-KLM Is In Exclusive Negotiation With The Italian Government
By Seeking Alpha
Air France - KLM in exclusive negotiations with Italian Government
The Italian Government had chosen Air France-KLM in partnership with Certares Fund and Delta over a Deutsche Lufthansa-MSC consortium.
History of the deal - In 2008, Alitalia accepted the French-Dutch group's proposal - an offer to exchange shares for 100% of the capital for a total consideration of €1 billion (including the debt obligation) and no major restructuring plan (only 2,100 redundancies). At the time, it was election time, and Mr Silvio Berlusconi launched the slogan "Alitalia to Italians". This was the electoral campaign's slogan… Air France-KLM withdrew!
Air France-KLM was very lucky at that time... To sum up the numbers, since 2008 and the credit crunch, Alitalia’s total costs have exceeded €10 billion (mainly public money).
2022 - Air France-KLM is back to negotiate. Their room for manoeuvre is currently limited by the European Commission, pending the repayment of 75% of the state aid received during the COVID-19 health crisis.
In Italy, it is election time. The next, predicted Italian government and party leader is already not in favour of the deal, commenting that: "another piece of Italy that is going away, I'm ready to do everything I can to prevent it".
Unions are more in favour of the Deutsche Lufthansa-MSC offer, explaining that this consortium was “more in line as an industrial partner”.
Weekly Walkaway Opinion
Walkaway. Walkaway now. With a new Government looking to score political points, this deal is set for failure, again! Add that with the Union’s more favourable view of the competition, and Air-France-KLM could be set to become a sacrificial lamb.
India-UK: FTA negotiations on track, to conclude by Diwali, say officials
By Hindustan Times
Negotiations on track to conclude by Diwali
The conclusion of a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) with India will be one of the priorities on the foreign policy front for Liz Truss, who is set to become the UK’s next prime minister after being elected leader of the Conservative Party.
Policymakers in New Delhi will also be keeping a close watch on the stance adopted by Truss on the Ukraine crisis, given that outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson was one of the strongest supporters of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and on whether the new British government pushes ahead with a tilt towards the Indo-Pacific.
India and the UK are on track to conclude negotiations for a comprehensive FTA by Diwali, and the two sides have finalised 19 out of 26 chapters. Barring two chapters, the other five are a matter that can be addressed in a one-day session, two senior officials aware of the development said.
The Indian negotiating team is expected to visit London last week of September, which could be extended by a week or 10 days for the new British government to settle, the people said. Both sides are confident to meet the Diwali deadline, which is the last week of October, the officials said, requesting anonymity.
Speaking about various FTAs that India is negotiating, commerce secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said on Saturday: “The UK FTA is very much on track…Our fingers are touching… The Diwali deadline is not going to be missed. Mark my words.”
While the British side has expressed understanding for the Indian position on the Ukraine conflict, New Delhi will be watching to see if Truss continues Johnson’s policy of strong support for Ukraine..
Weekly Walkaway Opinion
Who is in charge of Time! Deadlines in negotiation can be the difference between a good deal and a bad one. Is their a veiled warning that the trade deal is at risk if the new Prime Minister doesn't change the UK's stance on Ukraine? Smells like it to me. Take the deadline and the veiled warning and I'd say the Indian negotiators are pre-conditioning their UK counterparts.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Giles Morgan
"Power, comes from you. You can either give someone power and have your power taken away from you OR you can choose to be powerful"
Got any questions or comments you’d like us to cover in next week’s Weekly Walkaway?