Leadership Skills

People who leverage powerful leadership strategies are adept and skilled negotiators. Experience certainly informs these leadership skills, but negotiation training will take a negotiator’s negotiation skills to the next level. Leadership skills and negotiation involves an analysis of complicated negotiation case studies as well as learning an array of sophisticated competitive and cooperative negotiating strategies.

Relationships are critical to leadership—in fact, they are as important to leadership as they are to negotiation. A relationship is a perceived connection that can be psychological, economic, political, or personal; whatever its basis, wise leaders, like skilled negotiators, work to foster a strong connection because effective leadership depends on it.

Positive relationships are important not because they engender warm, fuzzy feelings, but because they engender trust—a vital means of securing desired actions from others. Any proposed action, whether suggested by a negotiator at the bargaining table or a leader at a strategy meeting, entails risk. People will view a course of action as less risky, and therefore more acceptable, when it’s suggested by someone they trust.

The Program on Negotiation includes many articles on great leaders in negotiations, such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the late Russian Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, and Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as other topics such as outstanding women leaders, interest-based leadership, and the ongoing stalemate between President Barack Obama and Congressional leadership.

Experienced and aspiring executives would both benefit from negotiation training like that found in the Program on Negotiation’s Executive Education programs, including Negotiation and Leadership: Dealing with Difficult People and Problems, the Harvard Negotiation Master Class, or the Harvard Mediation Intensive. Perfecting your negotiation and leadership skills will enable a negotiator to negotiate in a variety of negotiation scenarios, improve relationships, create and claim more value at the bargaining table, and resolve conflicts.

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Leadership Skills: Negotiating for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Katie Shonk   •  06/15/2020   •  Filed in Leadership Skills

leadership skills

Black men and women continue to be vastly underrepresented in leadership roles in corporate America. Those who advance in majority-white organizations encounter both covert and overt bias, and often struggle to feel authentic and connected. The Program on Negotiation’s Negotiation Briefings newsletter spoke with University of Virginia Darden School of Business professor Laura Morgan Roberts, … Learn More About This Program

A Global Leadership Vacuum During the Covid-19 Crisis

Katie Shonk   •  06/08/2020   •  Filed in Leadership Skills

global leadership

As the coronavirus outbreak in China exploded into an international pandemic, nations have largely struggled to confront Covid-19 in isolation rather than teaming up on global solutions. That “go it alone” approach has bred dysfunctional competition for scarce resources, a shortage of creative solutions, and enormous inefficiencies. Greater collaboration and coordination are needed to improve … Learn More About This Program

Responsible Leadership in Times of Crisis

Katie Shonk   •  05/18/2020   •  Filed in Leadership Skills

responsible leadership

We often think of responsible leadership in terms of how decision makers help steward their organization and its employees through challenging times. But as is becoming increasingly evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, responsible leadership can also mean going above and beyond to help society at large. In a recent New York Times article, David Gelles … Read Responsible Leadership in Times of Crisis

Negotiation research you can use: Reducing gender bias in hiring negotiations

PON Staff   •  04/30/2020   •  Filed in Leadership Skills

No matter how strong their credentials or negotiating skills, women are less likely than men
to be chosen for jobs historically held by men, such as positions in leadership, science, and engineering, past research shows. In a new study, University of Vienna assistant professor Steffen Keck and National University of Singapore visiting assistant professor Wenjie Tang … Learn More About This Program

Organizational Leadership in High-Stakes Business Negotiations

PON Staff   •  02/24/2020   •  Filed in Leadership Skills

organizational leadership

Amid tightening global competition and demand for new technologies, automakers are feeling the urge to merge. In late 2018, Fiat Chrysler chairman John Elkann, an American-Italian running his family’s business, stepped up the search for a merger partner and reached out to Renault, among other companies.

For organizational leadership at Renault and Fiat Chrysler, the benefits … Learn More About This Program

Negotiation research you can use: When men are—and aren’t—more likely to negotiate than women

PON Staff   •  01/31/2020   •  Filed in Leadership Skills

Women can be less likely than men to initiate negotiations, a meta-analysis of existing studies on the topic concluded last year. Because negotiation is widely perceived as requiring stereotypically “masculine” traits, such as assertiveness and independence, rather than stereotypically “feminine” traits, such as concern for others and passivity, women may feel less comfortable launching negotiations than … Learn More About This Program

Collaborative Leadership: Managing Negotiators

Katie Shonk   •  12/16/2019   •  Filed in Leadership Skills

collaborative leadership

Organizational leaders, from middle managers to heads of state, often face the difficult task of overseeing mission-critical negotiations and managing individual negotiators and negotiating teams. Collaborative leadership—a focus on giving employees autonomy and a voice in key decisions—is often key to managing negotiators effectively.

We often overlook the important role of leadership in negotiation. But as … Read Collaborative Leadership: Managing Negotiators

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