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leadership positions

What are Leadership Positions in Negotiation?

A behavior that’s not typically at the top of the list when we think of leadership qualities? Negotiation. Yet negotiation is a critical skill for people in leadership positions.

While we may often think of a leader as someone who is bold, decisive, visionary, assertive, and charismatic, those in leadership positions must also be excellent negotiators. Wise leaders negotiate not only with outside customers, suppliers, and creditors, but inside their organization as well, with their peers and subordinates.

It’s also essential that those in leadership positions understand the importance of building and nurturing relationships. In many negotiations, people lose sight of the fact that some of the most important moves take place away from the table.

In fact, strong organizational leadership is often needed to set up effective negotiations and save floundering deals. In one example, after the seeming demise of a deal between Sony and Disney over a licensing agreement for Spider Man movies, Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger recalls a talk with actor Tom Holland, who played Spider Man.

“It was clear that he cared so much,” Iger said,  “ . . . and that the fans wanted all this to happen.” A month later, the two studios reached a deal. The many millions they stand to earn from Spider Man films and merchandising had something to do with it. But according to Iger, there was a deeper lesson regarding organizational leadership and the role of those in leadership positions: “Sometimes companies . . . or people, when they’re negotiating with one another, they kind of forget that there are other folks out there who actually matter.”

To learn more and augment your leadership skills, download this free special report, What is the Difference Between Leadership and Management?, from Harvard Law School.

The following items are tagged leadership positions:

Should Women “Lean In” to Create More Value in Negotiations?

Posted by & filed under Dealmaking.

Back in early 2008, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg began thinking about hiring Sheryl Sandberg, a vice president at Google and a former chief of staff for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as the social-media company’s new chief operating officer. The two met several nights a week for almost two months to discuss … Read More

Ask A Negotiation Expert: How Can Women in the Workplace Gain Ground?

Posted by & filed under Teaching Negotiation.

Deborah Kolb, the Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Professor for Women in Leadership (Emerita) at Simmons College, shares strategies that women in the workplace can use to overcome pay and promotion gaps at work. Kolb is the coauthor (with Jessica L. Porter) of Negotiating at Work: Turn Small Wins into Big Gains (Jossey-Bass, 2015). Past research has suggested that … Read More

Dear Negotiation Coach: Eliminating Unconscious Biases at Work By Naming Them

Posted by & filed under Leadership Skills.

Black men and women continue to be vastly underrepresented in leadership roles in corporate America due to unconscious biases in the workplace, amongst other reasons that may be more conscious. Those who advance in majority-white organizations encounter both covert and overt bias, and often struggle to feel authentic and connected, write contributors to the book … Read More

Women in Leadership: Toward More Equitable Negotiations

Posted by & filed under Leadership Skills.

Women remain vastly underrepresented in organizational leadership positions in the United States and beyond. Leadership homogeneity can lead to gender-biased decisions that harm not only women employees but also organizations as a whole—including in the context of employment negotiations. In 2018, top track and field athletes revealed how their corporate sponsors penalized them for becoming … Read More

Leadership Skills: Negotiating for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Posted by & filed under 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, … Read More

Real Leaders Negotiate to Meet Their Organization’s Goals

Posted by & filed under Leadership Skills.

Imagine a typical leader, and you might think of someone who is bold, decisive, visionary, assertive, and charismatic. Now think about the kinds of actions that such a leader might regularly engage in. Delegating, making top-down decisions, and otherwise exerting one’s power might immediately come to mind. A behavior that’s not typically at the top of … Read More

Announcing the 2017 PON Summer Fellows

Posted by & filed under Awards, Grants, and Fellowships, Daily, Summer Fellowship Grants.

PON offers fellowship grants to students at Harvard University, MIT, Tufts University and other Boston-area schools who are doing internships or undertaking summer research projects in negotiation and dispute resolution in partnership with public, nonprofit or academic organizations. The Summer Fellowship Program’s emphasis is on advancing the links between scholarship and practice in negotiation and … Read Announcing the 2017 PON Summer Fellows

Announcing the 2016 PON Summer Fellows

Posted by & filed under Awards, Grants, and Fellowships, Daily, Summer Fellowship Grants.

PON offers fellowship grants to students at Harvard University, MIT, Tufts University and other Boston-area schools who are doing internships or undertaking summer research projects in negotiation and dispute resolution in partnership with public, non-profit or academic organizations. The Summer Fellowship Program’s emphasis is on advancing the links between scholarship and practice in negotiation and … Read Announcing the 2016 PON Summer Fellows

Announcing the 2015 PON Summer Fellows

Posted by & filed under Awards, Grants, and Fellowships, Daily, Summer Fellowship Grants.

About the PON Summer Fellowship Program: PON offers fellowship grants to students at Harvard University, MIT, Tufts University and other Boston-area schools who are doing internships or undertaking summer research projects in negotiation and dispute resolution in partnership with public, non-profit or academic organizations. The Summer Fellowship Program’s emphasis is on advancing the links between scholarship … Read Announcing the 2015 PON Summer Fellows

Google Searches for a More Diverse Team

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

Recently, executives at the Silicon Valley-based internet giant Google noticed a disturbing trend: the company was having difficulty hiring and retaining female employees, from engineers to senior executives, Claire Cain Miller writes in the August 22 issue of the New York Times. Women were dropping out during the job interview process and were not being … Read Google Searches for a More Diverse Team

Announcing the 2011 PON Summer Fellows

Posted by & filed under Awards, Grants, and Fellowships, Daily, Summer Fellowship Grants.

About the PON Summer Fellowship Program: PON offers fellowship grants to students at Harvard University, MIT, Tufts University and other Boston-area schools who are doing internships or undertaking summer research projects in negotiation and dispute resolution in partnership with public, non-profit or academic organizations. The Summer Fellowship Program’s emphasis is on advancing the links between … Read Announcing the 2011 PON Summer Fellows

Announcing the 2010 PON Summer Fellows

Posted by & filed under Daily, Summer Fellowship Grants.

About the PON Summer Fellowship Program: PON offers fellowship grants to students at Harvard University, MIT, Tufts University and other Boston-area schools who are doing internships or undertaking summer research projects in negotiation and dispute resolution in partnership with public, non-profit or academic organizations. The Summer Fellowship Program’s emphasis is on advancing the links between … Read Announcing the 2010 PON Summer Fellows