Maintaining your position

Every time I watch Shark Tank, I’m always intrigued by the level of tenacity that the Sharks have with some of their offers.

For example, in Season 11, Episode 22, Robert Herjavec offered $100,000 in exchange for a 35% stake in Tough Apparel. Though the founders attempted to counter a couple of times, Robert reaffirmed that he would not budge. In fact, he stated six times in the span of two minutes that $100,000 for 35% are the only terms was willing to move forward with.

On the one hand, Robert’s unwillingness to negotiate could be perceived as arrogant. On the other hand, his stance could just as well be perceived as a reaffirmation in his belief that the terms he put out are very fair for him and Tough Apparel. Maybe it’s a bit of both.

Choosing to maintain your position on anything — whether it’s the terms of a deal or certain values you wish to keep — will invariably invite this kind of scrutiny.

While we may not always agree on what people choose to be inflexible about and why, the courage it takes to say “take it or leave it” — however foolishly or wisely guided — is certainly worthy of some admiration.

Sometimes maintaining your position will garner respect & higher reward.

Other times, there will be a price to pay.

In this case, Tough Apparel happily took the deal.

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