“Sunday Negotiation Insight”
Part Inspirational, Motivational, & All Educational
“Time is a precious commodity and so are you! Recognize when you’re wasting time and instead, use it to maximize your life’s opportunities.” – Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert
“Recognize When It’s Time To Go”
… I tried to take you with me, but you didn’t want to go.
How many times have you attempted to help someone you cared about improve themselves and found that they either didn’t want to improve and/or didn’t want to do so at the pace you knew they could? When you were in such situations how long did you stay engaged, knowing increasingly that the person was going nowhere soon? Worse, you found that person was preventing you from moving forward at the pace needed to achieve more of your goals.
Did you think to say to that person something akin to …
“Rumor has it that you’re fantastic! Rumor is right, but you have to recognize your ability to become more dynamic. You have to recognize that you possess hidden abilities that you’re not tapping into. You have to recognize that there’s a better life waiting for you to embrace what you say you seek. Once you recognize a sliver of your real potential and begin implementing the steps required to embrace the better life you say you want, then and only then will you begin to recognize more of your potential. In so doing you will have begun the process of awakening the slumbering brilliance that resides within you. That’s when you’ll wake up in the morning, thank your higher-being for being alive, and leap at the day’s opportunity. That’s when you’ll be on the road to reaching your full potential.”
If that doesn’t move the person to adopt actions towards a better sense of self-actualization, then it’s time for you to recognize that it’s time to go … everything will be right with the world.
What does this have to do with negotiations?
In a negotiation, you should always have exit points (i.e. points at which you’ll exit the negotiation based on what’s occurring in the negotiation). To stay involved in a negotiation past the potential benefits can cause you to lose the negotiation (the longer you stay engaged, the more likely you are to make concessions that are not beneficial to your position).
Thus, in a negotiation, attempt to motivate the other negotiator to adopt your position, while being open minded to her perspective. That will likely require the melding of the two positions. Do so to the degree it serves you. But, if you reach a point when you’re sure the negotiation is not going to achieve your objectives, recognize that it’s time to go. You can state, I tried to take you with me, but you didn’t want to go. Then, get up and exit the negotiation.
What’s your takeaway from this? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com
Remember, you’re always negotiating.