A Great Negotiator's Essential Advice

James K. Sebenius

Article | Harvard Business Review (website) | July 9, 2014

A Great Negotiator's Essential Advice

Abstract

The Program on Negotiation (PON), an active Harvard-MIT-Tufts consortium, honored Ambassador Tommy Koh of Singapore as its 2014 "Great Negotiator." During his remarkable career, described in detail here, Koh played central roles in some of the most complex international negotiations ever held that dealt with legal, economic, environmental, security, trade, and political issues. Koh's advice to negotiators emphasizes often-neglected "fundamentals," such as 1) Master your brief; 2) Build a talented, happy, and cohesive team; 3) Build a common fact base; 4) Beyond analytical and emotional intelligence, think outside your own "cultural box;" and 5) "Think win-win." Beyond fundamentals, Koh offers advice for those carrying out vastly more complex negotiations, emphasizing 1) the vital role of "education" as well as advocacy, especially in multiparty dealmaking; 2) how to make progress in very large-scale negotiations by "miniaturizing" negotiations to a small carefully-chosen subgroup, then strategically expanding the circle; and 3) how to think beyond individual negotiations toward orchestrating a "negotiation campaign."

Keywords: Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Personal Development and Career; Negotiation Style; Singapore;

Format: Print

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Citation:

Sebenius, James K. "A Great Negotiator's Essential Advice." Harvard Business Review (website) (July 9, 2014).

In 1976, a growing crisis in Southern Africa drew the attention of United States Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. White Rhodesian leader Ian Smith's refusal to accede to black majority rule threatened to widen into a regional conflict involving apartheid South Africa and newly independent leftist African states. Kissinger and others feared that the region was on the brink of becoming a new battleground in the Cold War. In light of these developments Kissinger decided to intervene, seeking a negotiated solution that might bring about a peaceful end to minority rule. The account in this case carefully describes—but does not analyze nor draw lessons from—these challenging circumstances.

In 1976, United States Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger conducted a series of intricate, multiparty negotiations in Southern Africa to persuade white Rhodesian leader Ian Smith to accede to black majority rule. Conducted near the end of President Gerald Ford’s term in office and against substantial U.S. domestic opposition, Kissinger’s efforts culminated in Smith’s public announcement that he would accept majority rule within two years. This set the stage for the later Lancaster House negotiations that resulted in the actual transition to black majority rule. The account in this case carefully describes—but does not analyze nor draw lessons from—these challenging negotiations.

A remarkable 1993 negotiation rocked the world of American football with aftershocks that have directly shaped today’s entertainment and media landscapes and even our polarized politics. In December of that year, Rupert Murdoch’s fledgling Fox Network unexpectedly displaced longtime incumbent CBS as the host of the National Football League’s flagship programming. Fox’s negotiating success seemed most unlikely given that CBS had regularly renewed these NFL rights since 1956, enjoyed a good relationship with the NFL, sported an acclaimed broadcast unit, and had affiliates in virtually all important U.S. markets. Yet acquisition of these NFL rights directly enabled the expansion of Fox, then a minor broadcaster, into the media behemoth of today. For many observers, Fox’s NFL “heist” looked like the result of a simple move: Fox offered more money than CBS. A closer analysis, however, suggests a far more complex reality with ten broader lessons for negotiators facing challenging situations.

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A Great Negotiator's Essential Advice

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