Emotions as a negotiating tool

Harvard Business School Professor Michael Wheeler's book, The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World, gets a nice review in my favorite newspaper, the Financial Times.  As the reviewer, Alicia Clegg, says "Empathy and emotions – both one’s own and those of the other side – play a crucial role in negotiating and dealmaking..... Emotional awareness can help you navigate blind spots and prejudices and arm you with self-control."

Good negotiating tips include "paying close attention to what others express through body language, words and tone of voice," and if your counterpart "is unreasonable you may need to bang the table, say 'no' loudly or walk away – but it should be you, not your emotions that make the choice."

Patience is key to life’s endless negotiation

The Financial Times is my favorite daily publication for many reasons.  Among them are columnists like Luke Johnson.   Here he provides nice examples supporting "two of the golden rules in negotiating a deal: be patient and do not get emotionally involved." 

So much easier said than done! 

And why it's often very helpful for a negotiators to part of a team -- so teammates can catch each other from being impatient or too emotional.