Maximising Persuasiveness

Negotiation is an integral part of the leadership journey. A three-pronged approach would come in handy while ensuring buy-in.

- Muniinder K Anand

Negotiation comes from the Latin neg (no) and otsia (leisure) referring to businessmen who, unlike the patricians, had no leisure time in their industriousness; it held the meaning of business (le négoce in French) until the 17th century when it took on the diplomatic connotation as a dialogue between two or more people or parties, intended to reach a beneficial outcome over one or more issues where a conflict exists with respect to at least one. Thus, negotiation is a process of combining divergent positions into a joint agreement under a unanimous decision rule.

According to conventional knowledge, leading people needs vision, charisma, and a definite self-confidence—but not negotiation skills. Negotiation is typically reserved for use outside the firm—for instance, in finalizing deals with partners, customers, and suppliers.*

The conventional knowledge cannot be further from being wrong. Leadership frequently needs negotiation, and you would find that most, if not all good, leaders demonstrate effective negotiation skills. After all, the authority has its limits. It may so happen that some of the people you lead are smarter, more proficient, and in some situations, more powerful. In addition, there may be situations where you must lead people over whom you have got no authority, such as members of commissions, boards, and other departments in your organization.

To persuade people to follow your lead, you need to appeal to their interests, communicate with them effectively, and sell your vision—all of which are part of effective negotiation.

In order to convince others to follow your lead, you need to focus on what they need, and understand where their interests lie, and then communicate your vision through effective means of communication—this is essentially a part of the negotiation.