Crossing the streams...

Egon: Don’t cross the streams.
Peter: Why?
Egon: It would be bad.
Peter: I’m fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean “bad”?
Egon: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.
Raymond: Total protonic reversal.
Peter: That’s bad. Okay. Alright, important safety tip, thanks Egon.

From the movie Ghostbusters

Unlike the quote from the movie Ghostbusters above, we DO want to cross the streams when it comes to Leadership and Negotiation.  In my first blog post I gave you my general perspective on the connection between Leadership and Negotiation.  Of course, there is much to explore here.  While these two realms have been living similar, parallel, existences for many years the two streams are clearly coming together.  And that is a good thing.  In the next few blog posts I want to examine what others have stated about this coming together and what we can learn from them.  

One such source is Steve Brown, who has written on the subject in an interesting fashion.  Brown's ideas on Leadership and Negotiation can be found here.  Below I have summarize they way he sees Leadership and Negotiation coming together and added my comments after each point:

1.  A sense of fairness.  Brown believes that the best leaders always treat people fairly and a leaders followers view an effective leader from that perspective.  That same sense of fairness is important in negotiation.  If people don't feel they have been treated fairly that dynamic alone is enough to ruin a negotiation process.  

My comment:  I would certainly agree with this perspective.  That stated, creating a sense of fairness is much easier said than done.  Part of the challenge is that fairness is not always in our control. People we deal with develop their perceptions quickly and sometimes inaccurately.  That often gets in the way of developing this sense of fairness.

2.  Look for mutual benefit.  Effective leaders look for solutions that meet the interests of all or as many people as possible.  There is no question that a similar approach is taken in effective negotiations.  

My comment:  This is true from my perspective as well.  If people do not know how things will benefit them they will not get on board.  It is not that people are inherently selfish, rather they just pursue what is in their best interest.  A mistake in negotiation that I see all the time is people not recognizing the other negotiator has interests and needs as well and they won't say yes unless those are met.

3.  Emotional detachment.  Brown argues that "Sometimes making a good decision means detaching the emotions so that you can weigh your options dispassionately and logically...  In negotiation you also need to avoid becoming overly attached to a plan or outcome."

My comment:  The important word in that explanation is sometimes.  Putting distance between yourself and your emotions so you can make the best decision possible is important.  However, that is very different than not having your emotions or suppressing them.  Emotions find their way into Leadership and Negotiation situations all the time since we are both logical and emotional beings. So, you can't keep emotions out of these processes, but you can have them with some control.  Or, they will have you in an uncontrollable manner.

4.  Have a higher purpose.  Effective leaders and negotiators communicate their ideas in a way that exhibits a higher purpose.  They don't get lost in the details and nitty gritty.

My comment:  I would tend to agree with this sentiment.  Leaders, in particular, need to make sure people understand the higher purpose involved in what they are doing.  Negotiators need to do this as well -- albeit in a slightly different way.  They need to avoid getting stuck in the details and losing sight of their overall goals and objectives.

5.  Take a long term view.  Leaders take a long term view for their company, organization, or country.  If they take too many short term decisions and don't consider the longer term they are sure to fail.  This is also the case in negotiation -- particularly with those who we want to work with for a long time.

My Comment:  Taking the long term view is critical.  I sense leaders understand this, but in today's "I want it now" world it is getting harder and harder for them to do that.  Kicking the can down the road has become a real and dangerous practice of many leaders.  From a negotiation perspective this concept is critical, but is often missed by negotiators who can be judged on short term metrics and goals.  Effective negotiators need to be able to have internal conversations about the importance of the long term and how to build their strategy in that manner.

Some very useful insights in here.  More to come in the future!