6.3. YOUR VALUES
Your personal values and your business values are often very similar. They can be based on such qualities as integrity, honesty, reliability and others. They provide you with the parameters to judge what you believe is fair, what behaviour you find acceptable and the degree to which you are prepared to allow others to use the power they have during your dealings.
Your values may well provide you with balance in how you lead your life, how you make decisions, interpret right from wrong, and so on. However, in negotiation, they can often serve to distort thinking (see page 128 on clear thinking). Whether the behaviour of the other party is ethical, 'fair' or 'right' is of little consequence in negotiation. If they have the power and decide to be irrational with it, it is your job to manage the situation as you find it. It is not the time to start making value judgements. Cling to your ideals and you will become emotionally challenged and compromised.
Getting upset or angry about the 'unfair' or 'disproportionate' terms the other party is demanding is unlikely to attract any sympathy or empathy, let alone a better result. In fact, it will probably promote the opposite as you are likely to appear needy or emotional and will lose respect.
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