Shifting the Balance of Power your way in Negotiation

"In dealing with cunning people, we must ever consider their needs to interpret their speeches"

Sir Frances Bacon

We define power, somewhat narrowly, as the ability to pressure someone to do something he/she?would not otherwise do.

Many of us constantly find ourselves in a dance of feeling powerless in negotiations and on the flip side, in positions of power to ultimately dictate the outcomes. There is a very fine line between the two. What can you do to bridge the gap and ensure you have some level of power in any negotiation?

French and Raven (1959; 1964) demonstrated that power is correctly understood as the potential for influence; that is, rather than being the exact act of influencing, it is one’s ability to do so, regardless of whether it is actually exercised.

For example, in negotiation, obtaining a concession from the other side because that side was simply happy to concede would not constitute power. However, the ability to seize that concession from the other side, despite its objections, would indicate an underlying position to influence that party, and thus would constitute power.

Exercising power typically means imposing costs on the other side or threatening to do so.

Yet, from a negotiator's perspective, his or her's?leverage is how the other side perceives it. We may not actually need a strong position, as long as the other side?thinks?you have one. It's can be very subjective. If our opponent thinks we can directly affect their satisfaction or dissatisfaction, we command the power to determine the outcome.

If a company needs the employees’ work more than employees need the company’s pay, the company is more dependent and hence less 'powerful'.?

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Expanding on this notion, if the employees have a better alternative- that is,??they can easily quit and go to a competitor or find alternative employment, the less dependent one is and so by default their power in negotiations with the employer, increases.?

Gosselin (2007) outlines negotiation power as a function of alternatives, outlining?three types of alternatives:

1. Alternative sources?– these can be?sources of supply, production, R&D. The?uniqueness of a product/service deeply impacts this element as there are no clear alternatives for a bespoke product/service.
2. Alternative currencies?– currencies are tangible or intangible resources that are perceived to have value by the receiving party (tangible, e.g. loaning staff, equipment; and intangible, e.g. recognition like giving an award or credit, flexibility)
3. Alternative skills and behaviours?– understanding cultural differences, nonverbal communication, reading a room all fall part of being able to shift the balance of power into one's favour.

With this in mind, if we are looking to shift the scale of power to our favour, one needs to improve our range of alternatives.

Giuseppe Conti is the founder of CABL (www.cabl.ch), a firm that offers a range of customized training in the field of negotiation and influencing.

Since 2005, Giuseppe has been an award-winning Lecturer, recognized for his lively and interactive training workshops across a number of the leading business schools in Europe: Cambridge, EPFL, ESADE, HEC Lausanne, HEC Paris, IESE, IMD, Imperial College, INSEAD, London Business School, Oxford, RSM, SDA Bocconi, UBIS, University of Geneva and University of St Gallen.

More recently, he has become a Professor in Negotiation & Influencing. Giuseppe regularly runs workshops in four continents. To date, corporate leaders from multinational corporations and individuals from over 145 different countries have attended his workshops.

Giuseppe is an accomplished negotiator and integrates into his training over 25 years of executive-level experience at Blue Chip corporations (Procter & Gamble, Novartis, Firmenich, Merck).

His recent research and articles have focused on negotiating with no alternatives, influencing in healthcare, gender differences in negotiation, managing internal and external negotiations, dealing with difficult people, and negotiating in long-term business relationships.