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Scotsman
26-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Never negotiate with a bully
Mediator John Sturrock on a US expert's argument that sometimes it's right not to try to come to an amiable settlement Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... In 1996, I attended Harvard's Program on Negotiation to learn, for the first time, about interest-based negotiation. I was privileged to study under the legendary Professor Roger Fisher, co-author, with Wiliam Ury, of Getting to Yes. Having spent many years being educated in and practising adversarial dispute resolution, this was a revelatory experience and has informed my career ever since. One of my tutors on that course was a young academic, Sheila Heen. Nearly 30 years later, Heen is now the distinguished Thaddeus R. Beal Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School and Deputy Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Recently, Professor Heen circulated a memorandum entitled Advice I Almost Never Give: Don't Negotiate, addressed to law firms 'under attack by the Trump Administration'. This extraordinary document underscores just how serious things have become for many law firms in the US. Heen describes how she has been teaching negotiation and developing theory and practice at Harvard for 30 years, spending her career helping colleagues and combatants find common ground and working in all sorts of situations of conflict. She then says: 'I'm now offering advice that I almost never give. Do not negotiate.' Harvard expert Professor Sheila Heen recently told US lawyers: 'Trump's message is clear, 'Do what I say, or I will destroy you'.' (Picture:) Heen captures the 'impossible choice' faced by many law firms: 'If you resist, the sanctions ravage your ability to represent current and future clients in front of government agencies, and both partners and clients may decamp to less controversial and visible practices. If you are among the managing partners responsible for protecting your firm, your natural instinct may be to find ways to work with the administration in hopes of remaining viable and 'putting this matter behind us'.' In strong language, Heen describes President Donald Trump as 'a caricature of an unidimensional negotiator, operating exclusively from the domain of power... He tramples on rights … willy-nilly.' Likening him to 'a schoolyard bully', she says attacks on law firms are not about DEI and pro bono hours, any more than the playground confrontation is about the lunch money. 'Trump's message is clear 'Do what I say, or I will destroy you.'' She argues that conceding anything to the administration teaches the President that 'maybe he can push you around'. Coming to agreement confirms you are willing to sign over your autonomy and let him micro-manage the internal decision-making and governance of the firm. This has resulted in at least a few of the best law firms in the country being effectively 'under his thumb, working for him'. His 'driving interest is in neutralizing representation for anyone who opposes him. He is demanding that you replace your firm's loyalty to your clients with loyalty to the president.' He is positioning himself 'to veto the top firms' ability to represent anyone whose legal, constitutional, or human rights he tramples.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad For Heen, there is no risk-free path. However, refusing to negotiate protects the status quo, she argues, and enables the firm's attorneys to uphold the Constitution, act with integrity, and represent clients zealously in pursuit of justice. Heen pleads for threatened firms to speak up and stand together. She asks if bystander firms will step in, offering resistance, 'to stick up for the victim, collectively forcing the bully to back off? Or will they avert their eyes and hope to escape notice, lest the bully's sights land on them?' A Harvard course informed John Sturrock's understanding of mediation techniques I make no apology for setting out Heen's words at some length. They seem shocking to read and remind us we must not take for granted the rule of law and independence of the legal profession.
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
10 Books To Master Effective Communication
You can improve the way you relate to others at work, at home and in your most treasured relationships by stepping up your communication skills. The best communication books help you flex new muscles for making connections and explaining yourself to others while truly understanding what they have to say. Communication skills books often offer anecdotes and examples to help people learn. Books to improve communication skills focus on effective communication tactics such as active listening, positive body language and expressing ideas clearly. This list of best books for communication skills can help you achieve personal goals by honing your abilities to speak in public or relate to other people. This list includes powerful books focused on all types of communication, including romantic, platonic, interpersonal and professional. Communications books fit under the self-help books umbrella because they emphasize personal improvement and growth. These rankings are based on commercial and critical success of the books and the authors' credentials. Charisma helps people communicate better by captivating their audience. But what if you lack the inherent charisma of a Barack Obama or Ronald Regan? Author Olivia Fox Cabane argues that you can learn to be charismatic by practicing your skills of persuasion and becoming more inspirational. This book is best for those who worry about how they come off in social situations. Olivia Fox Cabane's The Charisma Myth is available from publisher Penguin Random House. Part of good communication is recognizing that coming to decisions often requires mutually beneficial solutions—you have a better chance of reaching an agreement when each person gets something they want. Getting to Yes highlights how to sell your solution while acknowledging the other person's needs, focusing on your interests instead of your positions. This book is best for anyone who likes step-by-step instructions for self-improvement endeavors. Roger Fisher, William L. Ury and Bruce Patton's Getting to Yes is available from publisher Penguin Random House. Even if you never find yourself at an actual negotiating table, you will find the strategies in this book valuable in achieving everyday compromises at work and at home. The authors teach at Harvard Business School, and they base their insights on behavioral research, including tips for defusing tense situations and selling your own self-interests. This book is best for those who want detailed strategies for winning tense negotiations. Deepak Malhotra and Max Bazerman's Negotiation Genius is available from publisher Penguin Random House. Jefferson Fisher is a communication expert who provides actionable tips to make every conversation an impactful part of transforming your relationships. He advocates for abandoning arguments in favor of discussion, turning down the heat while also standing your ground. Hearing instead of reacting can improve your work and home life, he argues. This book is best for anyone struggling to stand their ground in conversations. Jefferson Fisher's The Next Conversation is available from publisher Penguin Random House. Can you ever really know someone? Malcolm Gladwell offers a fascinating blend of self-help, history and current events in his book examining how to use communications strategies to analyze and relate to people we don't know. Gladwell details how dangerous it can be to rely on misconceptions about strangers and outlines better approaches to them. This book is best for anyone who enjoys memoirs or history books. Malcolm Gladwell's Talking to Strangers is available from publisher Little Brown. Conflict resolution is another large part of effective communication. Mediator Dana Caspersen breaks down 17 principles for changing conflict into a growth opportunity by pursuing constructive dialogue instead of digging in. She offers exercises that encourage using communication during conflict to eliminate destructive communication patterns that lead to frustration. This book is best for anyone stuck in the same communications rut. Dana Caspersen's Changing the Conversation is available from publisher Penguin Random House. TED Talks have become a cultural touchpoint for their intelligence, influence and inspiration. They are the epitome of public speaking success, so little wonder Carmine Gallo's book harnessing their secrets is such a great read. He zeroes in on the small things speakers do to grab an audience's attention and never relinquish it. This book is best for anyone looking to refine their public speaking skills and is also one of the best audiobooks on this list. Carmine Gallo's Talk Like TED is available from publisher Macmillan. Marshall B. Rosenberg's book has sold more than 5 million copies for a reason. He sets up a dichotomy by defining violent communication—achieved by using finger-pointing, blame and often racial bias—and nonviolent communication, which emphasizes consciousness and careful use of language. By sharing rather than lording power over others, we can achieve goals. This book is best for anyone who wants to explore gentler communication styles or has benefitted from concrete strategies laid out in books on grief or psychology. Marshall B. Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication is available from publisher PuddleDancer Press. A New York Times bestseller that has also sold more than 5 million copies, Crucial Conversations focuses on high-stakes conversations in the business world, though it can also help illuminate everyday communications. By embracing the 'persuasive not abrasive' mindset, you can talk about any topic and get your point across. This book is best for anyone who wants to up their impact in high-stakes situations. Kerry Patterson's Crucial Conversations is available from publisher McGraw Hill. One of the most famous titles ever written, How to Win Friends & Influence People is Dale Carnegie's enduring blueprint for getting people to like you and using communication to get what you want—and what you deserve. It includes tips applicable to both business and social circumstances and has sold 15 million copies. This book is best for anyone who wants to climb the social or career ladder. Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends & Influence People is available from publisher Hachette. Bottom Line Everyone has personal and/or professional goals that would benefit from improved communication. Whether you want to communicate better with a spouse, boss or friend, you can find the key in these well-written and well-executed books to assist with many situations. Improving communication in your relationship with your partner can benefit you both. One of the best books for this is couples therapist Sue Johnson's Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love (2008), which teaches couples to become more attuned to each other. Body language is a huge part of communication, and law enforcement officials are experts in interpreting it thanks to their specialized work that focuses on criminal reactions. Joe Navarro and Marvin Karlins's What Every Body is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People (2008) gives fascinating insights into body language, including why the body tells more than the face. Speaking is a skill that you can improve with practice and insight. Another bestseller by Dale Carnegie, The Art of Public Speaking (1915) addresses tone, delivery, concentration and even charm in a guide that can help anyone improve their public speaking skills.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Trump's tariff antics prove he is a terrible negotiator
In 1977, Harvard Law School Professor Roger Fisher published the international best seller, 'Getting to Yes,' after decades of researching the most effective techniques in dispute resolution. He and co-author William Ury's groundbreaking work revolutionized how negotiators approached bargaining in the decades that followed, encouraging practitioners to focus on what he called 'interest-based' solutions rather than traditional power-based approaches, which he believed elongated discussions, destroyed relationships and produced inferior results. Fisher's work found its way to bargaining tables large and small throughout the nation and beyond, and he taught his mutual gains approach to local bargaining teams throughout the country. I had the opportunity to attend his training during my career as a labor professional and have personally experienced the transformative effect of this method. It is from this perspective, and my own experiences as a negotiator, that I shudder at every utterance and action of our current president, who represents the antithesis of effective dispute resolution and problem-solving. Whether one subscribes to a Fisher-style mutual gains approach or not, Donald Trump violates every cardinal rule of bargaining. An effective chief bargainer has the goal of achieving a good result. Any distraction that is contrary to that end unnecessarily entrenches the parties to produce a far weaker outcome. It is for this reason that the sensitive matter of bargaining the country's trade tariffs should be accomplished quietly and tactfully, out of the public view, until effective results can be shared. Trump's obsession with grandstanding, bullying, threatening and boasting about yet unresolved matters may help him assuage his personal dysfunctions, but nothing could be more contrary to effective outcomes. It is extremely likely that everyone in America will pay more at the store for Trump's verbal assaults on leaders of other nations — in most cases creating adversarial relationships that did not pre-exist. This repeated behavior is an egregious violation of the most fundamental principle of dispute resolution. In contrast, an effective bargainer would be very conscious of the fact that the other side, in any negotiation, reports to someone, whether a legislative body that must agree to the outcome or simply the public at large. Humiliating or diminishing the other party is a significant unforced error. Consider the position of the leader of another nation returning with an agreement to a new tariff after Trump has proclaimed 'they are all kissing my ass.' In so doing, he instantly creates a belief among the populace of the corresponding nation that they have likely been cheated, regardless of the equitability of the solution. His uncontrolled outbursts often require him to retreat and reverse himself, diminishing his own credibility, protracting negotiations and, ultimately, bringing a higher cost to American consumers. One of Trump's worst inclinations is to announce his success before he has any to announce. This has resulted in the absurdly erratic, back-and-forth positioning that has plagued the markets this month. An effective bargainer understands the need for latitude in outcome expectations on both sides. To the degree that expected outcomes are shared at all, the bargainer is best served by creating a non-specific range of results that will not present a trap for either side when the final solution is announced. To declare an outcome prior to negotiation leaves the bargainer with failure by definition, even if a reasonable outcome is achieved that falls short of what he predicted. Even if Trump had the prerequisite skills to bargain, which he decidedly does not, he would be best kept out of the process altogether until it's time for his victory lap — the one he will surely take whether or not any victory is achieved worth lapping about. All of the details and reversals that have derailed the process and the economy in recent days could have easily been avoided by effective behind-the-scenes negotiations that ironed out differences until a result could be announced. Trump's antics on so many levels have sought to weaken our most important institutions and diminished the country, but in this case, his uncontrolled behavior and lack of discipline will cost everyone more in very real dollars. Larry Lobert is a retired chief bargainer and labor relations professional, and former assistant superintendent of Grosse Pointe, Mich., public schools. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
18-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump's tariff antics prove he is a terrible negotiator
In 1977, Harvard Law School Professor Roger Fisher published the international best seller, 'Getting to Yes,' after decades of researching the most effective techniques in dispute resolution. He and co-author William Ury's groundbreaking work revolutionized how negotiators approached bargaining in the decades that followed, encouraging practitioners to focus on what he called 'interest-based' solutions rather than traditional power-based approaches, which he believed elongated discussions, destroyed relationships and produced inferior results. Fisher's work found its way to bargaining tables large and small throughout the nation and beyond, and he taught his mutual gains approach to local bargaining teams throughout the country. I had the opportunity to attend his training during my career as a labor professional and have personally experienced the transformative effect of this method. It is from this perspective, and my own experiences as a negotiator, that I shudder at every utterance and action of our current president, who represents the antithesis of effective dispute resolution and problem-solving. Whether one subscribes to a Fisher-style mutual gains approach or not, Donald Trump violates every cardinal rule of bargaining. An effective chief bargainer has the goal of achieving a good result. Any distraction that is contrary to that end unnecessarily entrenches the parties to produce a far weaker outcome. It is for this reason that the sensitive matter of bargaining the country's trade tariffs should be accomplished quietly and tactfully, out of the public view, until effective results can be shared. Trump's obsession with grandstanding, bullying, threatening and boasting about yet unresolved matters may help him assuage his personal dysfunctions, but nothing could be more contrary to effective outcomes. It is extremely likely that everyone in America will pay more at the store for Trump's verbal assaults on leaders of other nations — in most cases creating adversarial relationships that did not pre-exist. This repeated behavior is an egregious violation of the most fundamental principle of dispute resolution. In contrast, an effective bargainer would be very conscious of the fact that the other side, in any negotiation, reports to someone, whether a legislative body that must agree to the outcome or simply the public at large. Humiliating or diminishing the other party is a significant unforced error. Consider the position of the leader of another nation returning with an agreement to a new tariff after Trump has proclaimed 'they are all kissing my ass.' In so doing, he instantly creates a belief among the populace of the corresponding nation that they have likely been cheated, regardless of the equitability of the solution. His uncontrolled outbursts often require him to retreat and reverse himself, diminishing his own credibility, protracting negotiations and, ultimately, bringing a higher cost to American consumers. One of Trump's worst inclinations is to announce his success before he has any to announce. This has resulted in the absurdly erratic, back-and-forth positioning that has plagued the markets this month. An effective bargainer understands the need for latitude in outcome expectations on both sides. To the degree that expected outcomes are shared at all, the bargainer is best served by creating a non-specific range of results that will not present a trap for either side when the final solution is announced. To declare an outcome prior to negotiation leaves the bargainer with failure by definition, even if a reasonable outcome is achieved that falls short of what he predicted. Even if Trump had the prerequisite skills to bargain, which he decidedly does not, he would be best kept out of the process altogether until it's time for his victory lap — the one he will surely take whether or not any victory is achieved worth lapping about. All of the details and reversals that have derailed the process and the economy in recent days could have easily been avoided by effective behind-the-scenes negotiations that ironed out differences until a result could be announced. Trump's antics on so many levels have sought to weaken our most important institutions and diminished the country, but in this case, his uncontrolled behavior and lack of discipline will cost everyone more in very real dollars.
