Leadership Transitions: The Watkins Collection (4 Items)

time (“I’ll give you a break on delivery this time if you give me a

break on pricing next time”) and risk-sharing arrangements

(“You need to lock in a minimum financial return, and I’m will-

ing to give you that in return for more of the upside”). Driving

deals that are too favorable for you can leave counterparts bit-

ter, disinclined to energetically implement agreements, and

looking for payback the next time. If you are overseeing people

negotiating on behalf of you or your organizations, you should

likewise take care that their incentives don’t encourage them to

kill the goose just to bring home a few more golden eggs by the

end of the quarter.

Finally, your reputation as a negotiator is hard to build, easy

to lose, and difficult to recover. You can’ ...