Maybe People Don’t Need Negotiation Training
by Philip Williams
Maybe people don’t need negotiation training…
After all, isn’t it just one of those things that we start doing from the moment we are born. Like walking or running, it is something we intuitively pick up, copying each other, developing our own style and through life; get to a level that by and large, we are okay with it.
Should it become more important to us, we typically put in a bit more effort, pay more attention to those we view as successful and with self-will and the need to meet targets, we tell ourselves that our performance improves.
Well it does to a point.
What often happens is we settle on a style that seems to work most of the time which we then consistently apply to all situations. Not necessarily a bad thing, but when things get tough, are different or come to a standstill then we are quick to blame the ‘other’ or life or both.
This is often accompanied by that lingering feeling that we have missed something. We are haunted by a sense of potential loss and disconcerting unease that this is the best it is going to get!
But it doesn’t have to be.
Coming back to my running analogy, despite my best self-effort it is highly unlikely that I’m going to be good enough for the Olympics! To even move my performance towards that league requires something else. In fact, a complete step change which comes in the form of professional training.
This involves others looking at my whole style, taking it apart and then helping me rebuild myself into a far more controlled, comfortable and confident athlete. This time I can plan more effectively, dynamically assess my progress in the moment and surgically apply changes to whatever is thrown at me.
Instead of my tried and tested sub optimal approach, I am armed with a far wider range of knowledge, experience, skills and options to meet the challenges and shift my negotiation performance to an elite level and ultimately; achieve outcomes that I never thought possible.
Negotiation training is optional….as a wise friend of mine says, so is misery.