How past experiences, small signals and quiet assumptions shape what happens at the table. The deal was fine. The trust wasn’t. I was in a negotiation not long ago where, on paper, everything looked perfectly reasonable. The offer made sense, the people involved were experienced, and the discussion itself was structured, polite and — at least on the surface — professional. And yet something felt off. The other side communicated in a very controlled way. Their answers were pre

Why misunderstandings – not strategy – often derail global deals International cooperation has become routine in modern business. Teams, suppliers and customers frequently work across borders and cultures, and negotiations often involve partners from very different backgrounds. Yet when negotiations become difficult, the explanation is often sought in strategy, pricing or technical issues. In practice, the real cause is sometimes much less obvious. Misunderstandings about lan

What if I’m still scared? I train people in presentation skills and high-stakes negotiation, and I am still nervous before presenting myself. Sometimes quite noticeably. Over the years, I have learned a great deal from experienced negotiation trainers about dealing with pressure — and I still find that some of the strongest nerves show up not in big corporate negotiations, but before presentations or talks. In private situations, such as negotiating a thousand euros with a bu

During a negotiation training I ran in December, we were talking about the commander role when one participant asked something we don’t usually spend enough time on. Normally, we explain what the commander does . We describe the function, the responsibilities, the logic of having someone who stays calm, observes the room, and keeps the bigger picture in view. But this participant asked the better question: “I think I understand what a commander does… but how do I get into th

A practical guide to handling unagreed price increases with clarity and confidence It is a situation many organisations recognise immediately. An email lands in your inbox, often short and matter-of-fact, sometimes with a PDF attached. The supplier informs you that, “due to current market developments”, prices will be adjusted with immediate effect. There has been no prior discussion, no advance warning and no reference to any contractual mechanism – just a new price. Suddenl

The power of being liked We all like to be liked. And in negotiation, that’s often where the trouble begins. You build rapport, share a laugh, perhaps discover you both once worked in the same place or have a colleague in common. The room warms, the conversation flows easily, and everyone gets along. Yet when it’s over, you realise the deal you accepted isn’t quite the one you came for. That’s the sympathy trap — the quiet drift that happens when the wish to be liked or to li

The other day in a negotiation seminar, someone asked, “Is it actually OK to make my negotiation partner emotional?” Classic question. My instinctive, rather British or German answer was to keep things rational—after all, most of us have learned the hard way that letting emotions run wild rarely produces lasting agreements. But my participant had something more subtle in mind: he wasn’t talking about winding people up or provoking a row. What he meant was this: Is it possible

Source: Gemini KI Imagine strolling through your local supermarket or perhaps a bustling consumer fair. You're minding your own business...

This article builds on a question put to me in a recent seminar: “What do you do when the other side simply isn’t behaving rationally?”...

Created by KI: Churchill and Stalin A few days ago, in fact just a day after 8 May, I`m working at the lakeside at the Wannsee, just down...