The Negotiation Book: Your Definitive Guide To Successful Negotiating

5.2. THE FOURTEEN BEHAVIOURS

1. Think clearly when faced with conflict

Everything you do in negotiation requires you to think: if you can't think clearly your performance is going to be compromised. In some ways, it is similar in its definition to the personal trait of nerve (see page 105, Chapter 4). The extent of conflict, real or perceived, within a negotiation will vary depending on the strategy being adopted by both parties. The ability to think clearly when faced with conflict is one that will serve any negotiator well at any point on the clock face.

When involved in hard bargaining negotiations (4 o'clock), keeping a clear head and remaining focused on the deal without allowing their positioning to distract your focus or thinking can be difficult.

Yet it is this very skill that will help you to respond appropriately. How can you examine options, think creatively, or even build a collaborative climate, if you are emotionally constrained by the fact that the other party has just put what you think is a ridiculously low opening offer on the table? To walk away would be like a boxer knocked down once and not picking himself up. You have to gather your thoughts and remove any emotion from your thinking in the best way possible.

Thinking clearly also involves not allowing the other party to make you feel as though it is you who does not understand the market and who needs to move. If you are not sure about the deal or what it adds up to, then get out. You can always return to ...