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By Greg Williams
There I stood at the entrance to track two waiting for the 7:32 train to arrive for New York. At 7:30, I heard the whistle of the train and I thought thank goodness it’s on time; I had a very important meeting in New York and I didn’t want to be late.
The train pulled in and as I later found out, it was on track one. Track one was on the other side of the station, which is not where I’d always caught the train in the past. I looked at the train that, from my perspective was on the wrong track and at the wrong side of the station. I wondered what the heck was going on. It was 7:31 and even though the train had New York as its destination moniker, I was puzzled and went into process-thinking mode. Meanwhile, I heard another train’s whistle and saw that train was speeding towards me on track one. As it sped by me, not stopping, I felt confused. I couldn’t move. Needless to say, I missed the 7:32 train because I was not quick enough with my thoughts to take advantage of what was right in front of me.
I was filled with consternation after that, but I was reminded that I should not assume things are the same from one day to the next. You should remember that when you’re negotiating.
Be Aware Of Assumptions:
I’d initiated my train ride on many occasions in the past from that train station. I assumed everything that had always been true (i.e. the track the train would be on, tracks numbered in order) would be the same; the tracks were numbered two, one, three (go figure). What I didn’t consider was, that was the first time I’d caught the train that early in the morning. I should not have assumed that things would be the same as they were later in the day.
When you’re negotiating, be careful of the assumptions you make. The wrong assumptions can lead you to missing your negotiation train (i.e. opportunities).
Your New Normal Occurs Every day:
That means, what you knew yesterday will influence what you think you know about today. Given that, you should assess how the thoughts you had yesterday are influencing the decisions you make today. When negotiating always update your thought process with the most up to date information.
Trust Your Intuition:
When negotiating, you’ll have sensory perceptions. Don’t ignore them. In most cases what you’re sensing is something you pick up at a subliminal, subconscious level. Your perception is not fully registering your state of full consciousness. Since you’re bombarded with sensory information constantly, your brain doesn’t send every piece of data to your consciousness. You’d experience data overload if that occurred and that would tremendously hamper your decision-making abilities.
If you’re in a critical stage of a negotiation, be prepared to move with haste if you sense something needs immediate action. Having said that, make sure that you don’t move so quickly that haste turns into a disadvantaged action.
When negotiating, be prepared with rebuttals you’ll offer during the negotiations. Also be mindful that there will be unexpected occurrences that you’d not anticipated. When that happens, take special note of what you’re sensing, why you may be having such sensations, and the meaning that’s coming from them. It’s an attempt by your subconscious mind to grab the attention of your conscious state of mind. If the sensation is strong enough, there’s hidden value in paying attention to it. Once you become more attuned to such sensations, you’ll begin to win more negotiations… and everything will be right with the world.
Remember, you’re always negotiating.
#HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite
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