Page 238 - DMGT519_Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Notes of books written by and about people who learned hard lessons in life and they put that
knowledge in writing to share it with you. Take courses, go to seminars, read magazines,
do whatever you can to learn from others’ failures, and successes. Join the professional
organization for your field and attend their conferences. I can’t even begin to tell you how
much time, effort, energy and money I saved by joining the National Speakers’ Association,
and there are many others who share the same sentiment.
2. Outsource: Use the energy and knowledge of other people to make your life easier. This
might mean hiring someone to clean your house, getting the dry cleaners to press some
shirts, hiring a technical writer to prepare some necessary documentation you need, etc.
Most of use could leverage others’ businesses and energy and enjoy a lot more time off, or
more productive time. Your bottom 20 activities, those things you really don’t like to do
or that just don’t contribute to your productivity should definitely be outsourced.
3. Utilize investment funding: Your ability to borrow and tap into the financial resources of
other people and institutions can enable you to accomplish many great things that would
not be possible if you had to pay for them out of your own resources. Always be looking
for opportunities to borrow and invest money and achieve returns well beyond the cost of
that money. This requires planning and research, but the benefits are huge.
4. Make use of untapped brilliance: One good idea is all you need to start a fortune. Listen to
others’ ideas when you are at parties and listen for things that, combined with your talent
and resources, are viable business ideas. In his seminars, Brian Tracy likes to point out that
there are many examples throughout history where someone had an idea, expressed the
concept of that idea at a social event, then a year later noticed that someone had produced
the product or launched the business. If you have such an idea, act on it. If you hear of one,
act on that as well. I’m not talking about stealing someone else’s business plan, here. I’m
sure you’ve been out with friends before who thought of things that should be developed
or you’ve heard comments like, “Someone should invent . . .”

5. Work “the system”: The social networking system, that is. If we are six degrees of separation
from anyone in the world, then we are just six degrees away from the perfect resource.
Whatever it is you need to make your life more profitable and enjoyable, you know
someone who knows someone who knows someone who can help you. Make the most of
all social events by getting to know someone knew. It does you no good whatsoever to
meet 30 new people whom you’ll never remember, nor will remember you. But make one
or two good contacts, and your power of leverage will increase.
French and Raven developed what is regarded as a classic scheme for categorizing the various
bases of power. Their work was first presented in an article in Studies of Social Power in 1959,
titled “The Bases of Social Power”. They identified five distinct bases of power: legitimate,
reward, coercive, expert and referent. These five power bases were expanded on by Hershey and
Blanchard in their text, “Management of Organizational Behavior” (1982) in which they added
two more bases of power that are relevant to this discussion. The two additional power bases
are: connection and information. The seven power bases can easily be separated into two broad
categories of power: positional and personal.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
5. You can leverage a weak BATNA by repositioning it, controlling its perception and
challenging how others see it.

6. Power in negotiations is personal, not relational.

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