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The sympathy trap – how liking shapes negotiation (and sometimes trips us up)
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

Sebastian Hawkins
Nov 4


Keep your head, use your heart: Gut feeling, emotion, and ethics in negotiation
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

Sebastian Hawkins
Oct 28


The irresistible pull of a free sample: Reciprocity in action
Source: Gemini KI Imagine strolling through your local supermarket or perhaps a bustling consumer fair. You're minding your own business...

Sebastian Hawkins
Sep 23


Negotiating when logic isn’t leading: Practical ways to handle “irrational” behaviour
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?”...

Sebastian Hawkins
Sep 22


Negotiating with the Devil: Lessons from Churchill and Stalin
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...

Sebastian Hawkins
May 20


Cooperation with the XR HUB at the University of Würzburg
**PRESS RELEASE** Würzburg, 23 September 2023 Hawkins Consulting and the XR HUB at the University of Würzburg are setting new standards...

Sebastian Hawkins
Sep 29, 2023


PUMA enters new territory: "Mastering Emotional Discussions" training in virtual space
PUMA, a premier global sports company, has recently ventured into an innovative initiative to empower its team and respond proficiently...

Sebastian Hawkins
Jun 26, 2023


Hawkins in Sweden Part 2 – Presentation class in the Nordics
The last time I visited Sweden, I wrote about some cultural situations I encountered whilst training there. In the first week of...

Sebastian Hawkins
Oct 4, 2022


Are negotiators up to it?
If you have travelled recently by plane, consider yourself lucky to get there and back without any delays, baggage losses or even...

Sebastian Hawkins
Oct 4, 2022


Insisting on your position – or perhaps why “sticking to your guns" won’t get you the best result
Why insist on your position? Quite simply, it MAY well be the only way of achieving your goal! Let's say you are well aware that the...

Sebastian Hawkins
May 17, 2021
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