Monday, March 27, 2017

The art of negotiating

Trump thinks he is good at negotiating. After all, he thinks he is a successful businessman, and has negotiated many successful deals in the past.

But business deals are not the same as political ones.

In business deals, the main factor is usually about maximising the profits for all stakeholders. And the stakeholders are usually two companies, or in some cases, a handful of them.

But in political deals, the situation is usually a lot more varied. Money is no longer the sole consideration; there are now a thousand and one stakeholders, all having different political aims, ideals, non-monetary interests, and their own opinions on how things should be done. Throw in diplomacy and you have to consider history, cultures, traditions, economic backgrounds, and other national interests.

The things you need to consider for the most difficult business deal pale in comparison to the simplest of political ones.

So while a person may be a successful businessman with many past successes in negotiating business deals, the political arena is a different monster altogether.

The key is in how to apply one's past experience in the business world into the political one. And that really depends on how fast a person can learn and adapt. To learn about his new environment, and adapt his past experiences to that new environment. And it takes a humble person to do this, to be willing to admit that he or she needs to go back to the basics and learn from scratch this new environment.

And being humble is not easy, especially for people who have been successful to date.

So to those who wish to succeed: be humble.

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