A Great New Negotiation Resource!

This week my friend and colleague Jim Sebenius launched his new weekly podcast, Dealcraft: Insights from Great Negotiators.

For more than two decades Jim has interviewed truly great #negotiators including diplomats, businesspeople, a prominent entertainment lawyer (who represented Michael Jackson), plus two great artists, Christo and Jeanne Claude. And all these conversations were recorded!

So instead of just reading about such people, you’ll get to hear them describe, in their own voices, their high-stake triumphs (and in some instances, disappointing failures along the way). Then, on top of that, Jim will distill practical #lessons that all of us can apply in negotiating in our workplaces, our personal lives, and our communities. He rightly calls the series “a masterclass in negotiation straight from the masters."

The podcast is available on many platforms, among them:

Already two episodes are posted:

Episode 1: John Branca Part I: Negotiating Michael Jackson’s #Thriller The most viewed music video of all time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, was almost destroyed before it was released except for some almost unbelievable negotiations by music industry super-lawyer, John Branca, over 30 of whose clients—ranging from Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones to Michael Jackson and Dr Dre—have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Incidentally, this episode reveals how Branca was able to negotiate for Jackson the ownership of his master recordings, an almost unprecedented feat at the time.

Episode 2 Critical Moments in Negotiation

Via dramatic interviews, the inaugural episode of Dealcraft highlights how six remarkable negotiators handled pivotal points in their critical negotiations. Protagonists include former U.S. Special Trade Negotiator Charlene Barshefsky, former ExxonMobil head and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Blackstone Co-founder, Chairman and CEO Steve Schwarzman, an English property developer, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and key climate negotiator Christiana Figueres.

You can get started by going to Jim’s website and sample the 3-minute podcast trailer on the upper left corner of the landing page. Coming up soon are episodes about Disney's acquisition of Pixar, trade agreements with China, pivotal Blackstone deals, and the peaceful end of apartheid in South Africa. And for more about his remarkable career and his classic books, see his Harvard Business School bio.

P.S. I’ve taken a break from posting for a couple of months because of a lot of travel and helping develop a new online negotiation course. It’s great to be back! I’m eager to hear your comments.