Power and Negotiations

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Power and Negotiations
Influencing and Negotiating Skills
MTL Course Topics
INFLUENCING AND
NEGOTIATING SKILLS

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MTL Course Topics
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MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

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INTRODUCTION
Power is the key to what happens in negotiations. It is the
reason why both sides come to the negotiating table in the
first place, often to prevent one side exercising power in a
way they do not want: disrupting a business, spending
money somewhere else, withdrawing their labour. Power
surfaces throughout the negotiations when either side
wishes to strengthen its case or its arguments. And in the
end, it is the prospect of using power unfavourably that
produces a settlement between the sides.

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THE POWER OF POWER
Power works on us mentally and emotionally in
negotiations.
When the other side flexes their power muscles...
1. they make us believe they can give us what we want or
withhold it from us. We are in their power.
2. they make us feel inferior to them
3. they appear more important, more credible, more
worthy than they really are
4. we seek to appease them, earn their friendship, obtain
their protection
5. we find it hard to think straight
6. we are frightened of what power can do to us.
The best response to power displays is to remain objective
and unemotional and to focus on the job at hand.

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THE FLAWS OF POWER
The 16th century political writer Niccolo Machiavelli
described power as "pure impression". If we learn to change
the way we look at other people's power, it becomes less
frightening and impressive.
if we negate the basis on which people have power, it has
no hold over us. An important person is simply the same as
anyone else.
1. many of the ways in which power is projected are mere
images, impressions and associations: the big house,
the big car, the big yacht. We can learn to be
unimpressed by them.
2. power is only potential. As the powerful nations who
possess nuclear weapons have realised, power doesn't
really exist unless you can make others believe you will
use your power. If you can't convince them, you are
powerless.

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MTL Course Topics
TRADITIONAL POWER
Both traditional organisational power and particular forms
of power can be used in negotiations.
Traditional power is the kind of power on which industrial-
style organisations are based. It includes:
1. status, rank and title: normally people higher up the
organisational ladder are perceived to be more
powerful than those lower down. In negotiations,
people with an important hierarchical position often
appear more powerful than those who don't.
2. the power to reward or punish: this power is associated
with those in high-ranking positions.
3. connections: connections power means letting others
know that even if you don't have the power yourself,
you are connected closely to those who do.
4. physical power: this includes the power to determine
venues and occasionally shows of force.

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PARTICULAR POWER
Particular forms of power are those types of power that
have a particular effect on the group of people you're
dealing with in negotiations.
These can include...
1. the psychological power to influence people's emotions
and thinking. One technique of psychological power is
to discover an opponent's weak spot and exploit it.
2. information power. The side with the best all-round
information is likely to appear more powerful.
3. charisma power. This is the personal power of
individuals that combines experience, reputation and
personal relationship skills.
4. any quality that impresses others in negotiations. These
can include: stamina, commitment, experience,
patience, willingness to take risks, refusal to negotiate,
walkaway power.

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USING POWER EFFECTIVELY
Good negotiators use power effectively in the following
ways:
1. by increasing their own power
2. by recognising the power ploys used by others
3. be weighing up the risks of calling others' bluff
4. by ignoring the attempts by others to use power on
them
5. by applying their own power in subtle ways such as
showing that you aren't so desperate that you have to
use it
6. by not abusing the power they have to force deals that
humiliate others
7. by knowing more than the other side.
"If you're talking, you're giving information and therefore
giving away power; if you're listening and asking questions,
you're gaining information, the raw material of knowledge
and therefore gaining power." (Geoff Burch)

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USING POWER
You make the most of the presence of power in negotiations
in two ways: by making the most of the power you have;
and countering the other side's attempts to use their power
on you.
Making the most of your power. You make the most of your
own power when you obtain both the impression of power
and the power to get things done. You can use the look of
power while at the same time downplaying any need to use
it. You can quietly work away at their weak spots and then
time your power display.
Countering their shows of power. You can resist the other
side's attempts to exert power over you by seeing through
their power ploys. By being aware of your own weak spots,
you can avoid appeasing them or being emotionally
ambushed.
If you are clever, you can even turn their power ploys to
your advantage.

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TWO TYPES OF POWER
There is a difference between acquiring "impression" power
which makes others think you are important and the power
to actually get things done.
1. impression power is the appearance of being strong and
important through possessions, money, status,
executive decision-taking, information and connections
2. the power to get things done is the skill and
determination to achieve what you want.
Good negotiating teams will ensure that they have both
people who have political power and those who know how
deals can actually work in practice.
In combination, this can be a formidably powerful mix.
"Being in power is like being a lady. If you have to tell people
you are, you aren't." (Margaret Thatcher)

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MTL Course Topics
RAISE YOUR VALUE
You can increase the power you have over others by raising
the value of what you have in their eyes. This makes them
want it even more and at a higher price.
The techniques you can use to do this include...
1. emphasising the scarcity and rarity of what you have
2. suggesting that what you have is unique
3. underplaying the value of what you have to lead them
to believe you will settle cheaply
4. being reluctant to part with what you have as unworthy
of their interest.
A technique that raises the value of what you're offering is
to keep the other person waiting. This whets their appetite
more and is salaciously known as "the call-girl principle".

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SUBTLE POWER
When you reveal your need to reach a negotiated
settlement, you place power in the hands of your
opponents. The opposite is also true: by hiding your need to
do business, you acquire the look of power. You do this
when you take your time, let the other side know you are in
no hurry to settle, display indifference and disinterest, and
practise brinksmanship
In "The Book of the Eskimos", Peter Frenchen describes how
every spring the Eskimo fur trader emerges from the
snowfields to do business with the one trading post in the
area. For several days the trapper says little about his catch,
but rather downplays the value of it. This only serves to
whet the trader's appetite even more. Only when he has
everything he needs from the trader, does the trapper agree
to show what he has and start to trade.

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DIPLOMATIC POWER
Power is sometimes more effective when it is wielded like a
rapier than when it is thrown around like a sledgehammer.
Gentle, paced and understated displays of power are often
used in diplomacy.
Seasoned diplomats are masters at...
1. building relationships
2. good manners and courtesy
3. taking their time and appearing unhurried
4. alluding to their power indirectly through power
symbols
5. timing the use of power when others are at their least
likely to hit back
6. hitting the target precisely.

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MTL Course Topics
WITH GREAT COURTESY
Sports journalist Ian Wooldridge tells the story of how the
then Foreign Secretary, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, dealt with a
controversy over the draft of a book he had written about
the coloured cricketer Basil dopier.
"Summoning myself and the England captain Colin Cowdrey
to the Foreign Office, Sir Alec spent over an hour showing us
the splendours of the building, and over tea, discussed the
recent Eton-Harrow match. So it went on until the Foreign
Secretary reached for his half-moon spectacles, picked up
my book and opened it at the disputed page.
"Colin, I think we'd better excise this paragraph," he said
and crossed out 80 crucial words that have never seen the
light of day. Then with great courtesy, he escorted us back to
the lift and I realised I had witnessed supreme diplomacy at
work."

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FIND THEIR WEAK SPOTS
We all have weak spots in our personality make-ups. These
are those psychological needs we have which often drive us,
are important to us and, when met, make us feel good.
In the hands of a negotiating opponent, our weak spots can
make us vulnerable.
An opponent can either imply that he or she can help us
meet our personal needs if we agree to what they are
proposing; or warn us that our personal needs won't be met
if we continue with the line we are taking.
The only way to avoid being vulnerable to weak spot
manipulation is to learn how to be tough.

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TIMING
One of the best ways to use the power you have is to time it
just right.
When Di Burnett went to her bank late one October
afternoon, she was astonished to hear a voice shouting
"Help me! Help me! The oxygen is running out!“
Di called out "Who is it?" and recognised the voice of her
bank manager, the same man who a few days earlier had cut
up her credit cards because of an overdraft and charged her
£70 for it.
The manager now explained that he had inadvertently
closed the bank vault door behind him when depositing the
day's takings and that, everyone else having gone home, he
had found himself locked in.
Di paused. "I'll let you out if you waive the £70 charge on my
credit cards," she said. The bank manager took only a few
seconds to agree.

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OBLIGATION
The oldest of power tactics in trade is "obligation". This is
the technique of putting people in you debt by kind and
generous acts you've done for them.
One businessman visiting China for the first time fell victim
to obligation.
For the first four days of his visit he was wined and dined,
chauffeured to all the tourist spots, given anything he
wanted. His hosts even put a fax at his disposal when the fax
machine in the hotel failed to work.
At last on the morning of departure, and with time running
out, they got down to business. The Chinese negotiators,
with subtle reminders of what gracious hosts they had been,
extracted everything they wanted from the hapless
businessman.

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SEE THROUGH THE MASK
Some power trappings used in business are no more than
trappings and hide a less flattering truth.
The media tycoon Robert Maxwell, had all the trappings of
power: apparent wealth; a big yacht and country mansion;
an outsize personality; ownership of high-profile
newspapers; an ease with using large sums of money; a
dominating physical presence; first-name terms with the
rich and famous; and so on.
Yet, after his death in 1992, it was discovered that all these
power trappings were a false front: the reality was that his
businesses were bankrupt and on the point of collapse.
Learn to do what many of Maxwell's creditors failed to do:
see through the false trappings of power.

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EMOTIONAL AMBUSH
There are five personal power ploys that negotiators will try
to use on their opponents to weaken their feelings of
control:
1. Personal attacks: "You're not up to it!“
2. Accusations: eg of amateurism, awkwardness,
intransigence, unfairness "Come off it...! You can't really
mean that...!“
3. Flattery: praising your style or ability eg "I like you, so this
is what I'm prepared to do...“
4. Warnings: eg of what might happen if no deal is struck.
"Just think how disappointed you'll feel...“
5. Emotional ambush: emotional ambush is when an
atmosphere is created in the negotiation room which makes
you reluctant to displease or upset your opponent. You
begin to feel that it would be rude, cheeky or bad manners
to refuse them.

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DON'T REACT
Not reacting to anything in negotiations - other than as a
deliberate ploy - is a way of keeping the other side guessing
and not handing them a free piece of information which can
be used against us.
Even if we are elated at their agreement to an offer, or
disappointed at their rejection of an offer, we do well not to
show it. A po-faced expression is the best way to mask how
we feel and not react.
In "The Ransom of the Red Chief", O. Henry tells the story of
the spoilt little rich boy who is kidnapped and held for a
large ransom. Instead of giving in, the parents don't react at
all to the ransom demands. As time goes by, they even feign
a loss of interest in the boy's fate. The kidnappers
meanwhile become so exasperated with the boys' antics
and their unexpectedly long baby-sitting stint that they
finally pay the parents to take the boy back!

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DON'T APPEASE
Appeasing those who display power over you in the hope
that they will then treat you more kindly has been the
undoing of many earnest negotiators throughout history.
As Neville Chamberlain, pre-war British prime minister,
discovered in his dealings with the Fascist dictators, Hitler
and Mussolini, the more you appease and concede, the
more they will take from you.
The story is told of a newcomer to an African village who
became frightened by wolves at night so he threw them
some antelope meat to appease them. The next morning he
had the whole pack at his door.
"We've proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-Geld;
You never get rid of the Dane." (Rudyard Kipling)

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DON'T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS
When we lack confidence in our own abilities, we can easily
make the wrong assumptions about other's power.
A young job candidate found himself sitting in the waiting
room on his second interview. There were five other people
sitting beside him and he nervously eyed them up and down
to assess his chances. Being in the second slot, the young
man went in and performed his best. He was delighted to be
offered the job and then his interviewer asked about salary.
The young man, aware that if he went too high, he might be
rejected in favour of one of the other five, settled for a
modest figure.
Later, after starting the job, the new employee confided his
thoughts about the appointment to his boss.
"Oh, no," replied his boss. "You were the only candidate. We
were delighted to get you at the salary you wanted. Those
others were in for a quite different job."

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SPOTTING POWER PLOYS
There are four ways you can let your opponents know that
you've spotted a power ploy.
simply ignore it.
Name it.
This is like the naming of mythological beasts of old in order
to scare them away.
"Oh, I see you've placed me facing the sun. I might not be
able to see too well from there. I'll just move nearer.“
Suggest you discuss it
"Ah, I see you're playing "Hard to get". Shall we discuss
tactics?“
Counter it and call their bluff
"I see you're playing "Higher authority". Well, as a matter of
fact, I think we would be happy to hear from your boss."

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USE THEIR POWER PLOYS
When deliberate power ploys are used against you, turn
them to your advantage.
1. If they make you wait, use the time to phone the office,
check last-minute figures, or go over your brief
2. If they interrupt the meeting for something "more
important", use the time to do more research and plan
your next move
3. If they ignore you, forget your name, muddle you up
with someone else, remind yourself that it's either a
ploy which you can ignore or they're just not very good
at their job.
It is wasteful to react to emotional ambushes and other
power ploys by responding angrily or threatening revenge.
"Don't get angry. Don't even get even. Get ahead."

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KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
In any negotiation, it is wise to know the power base of the
people you are dealing with.
The story is told of a large ocean liner sailing from
Southampton to New York. As it neared its destination at
night, the lookout reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard
bow". The captain asked if it was steady or moving and the
lookout replied, "Steady, sir". The captain then told the
signalman to signal to the ship to change course 20 degrees
but the signal came back, "You had better change 20
degrees". The captain took over and signalled, "This is the
captain, change course 20 degrees at once". The reply came
back, "This is a seaman, second class, change 20 degrees at
once." By now furious, the captain spat out, "This is the
mighty ocean liner, Franconia. Change course 20 degrees".
Back came the flashing light, "This is a lighthouse, suggest
you change course 20 degrees". Needless to say, the liner
changed course.

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THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

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THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn

Power and Negotiations

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