Let’s be honest: it’s not “just you”. 𝟯𝟬% of people involved in negotiations admit they’re afraid their offer will be seen as shocking or disrespectful. So what do they do? They soften. They wait for the other side. They hide behind “let’s see your proposal first”. And then they complain that suppliers or internal stakeholders “always anchor too high / ask for too much”. Of course they do. You gifted them the steering wheel. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚�

Yesterday I wrapped up a negotiation in 15 minutes. Target achieved, supplier smiling, team relieved. I should have been happy. Instead, that little voice: “𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 ‘𝘺𝘦𝘴’ 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵… 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘸?” This is where most negotiators get it wrong. They do one of two things: 1️⃣ Beat themselves up for days. 2️⃣ Reopen the price and destroy trust. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐲. If the deal meets ambitious objectives you defined

Many negotiation models still taught and shared today were designed for one purpose: helping people understand negotiation conceptually. But, at senior levels, negotiations rarely fail because leaders don’t know: • the phases of negotiation • their BATNA • their ZOPA • or which “style” to adopt 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥. In real executive negotiations: • Alternatives are u