global leadership summit 2012: william ury

William Ury is the co-founder and senior fellow at Harvard University’s Program on Negotiation. These are my notes from his interview at the Global Leadership Summit.

  • Negotiation is the act of reaching agreement
  • The greatest obstacle to negotiation and agreement is ourselves. We are the biggest barrier to our own success
  • When angry you will make the best speech you will ever regret
  • One of the greatest powers of negotiation that we have is the power not to react
  • 4 Tips to successful negotiation:
    • #1 People:
      • Separate the people from the problem.
      • Be soft on people and hard on the problem.
      • Listen, put yourself in the shoes of the other person and offer respect
    • Interests:
      • Focus on interests not positions.
      • What are the underlying interests and issues?
    • Options:
      • Develop multiple options.
      • Creative options that meet the interests of all parties
    • Criteria:
      • The power of objective criteria and fairness, insist that the result be based on some objective standard.
      • Go into the conversation within a bottom line that you would walk away without agreement but still be happy with your walk away plan
  • Less talk, more walk
  • “Do I not destroy my enemy when I make them my friend?” Abraham Lincoln

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