By the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School(www.pon.harvard.edu)
We've all met them -- those negotiators 토토 사이트 바카라 don't want to deal with but find hard to avoid:
-- A boss who flies off the handle when things don't go 토토 사이트 바카라 way
-- A longtime friend who tries to manipulate 토토 사이트 바카라 with guilt trips
-- An important customer who threatens to drop 토토 사이트 바카라 if 토토 사이트 바카라 don't meet her terms
Sometimes 토토 사이트 바카라 face a choice between engaging with a volatile counterpart and keeping 토토 사이트 바카라r distance. Should 토토 사이트 바카라 negotiate with bullies or remove 토토 사이트 바카라rself from the situation and pursue 토토 사이트 바카라r alternatives?
More than a year ago, a political controversy in the United States erupted that offers insight into t토토 사이트 바카라 question for our business and personal lives. During a June 2007 presidential primary debate, Senator Barack Obama was asked whether, as president, he would be willing to meet with the leaders of Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea. Obama said he'd be willing to meet with these difficult leaders because, as quoted in The Boston Globe, "the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding principle of (the George W. Bush) administration -- is ridiculous." The candidate stuck with t토토 사이트 바카라 stance even after rivals Hillary Clinton and John McCain labeled him a naive optimist.
Long after Clinton dropped out of the race, and as the election approaches, the question remains a polarizing one: Should unpredictable, unlawful and potentially violent world leaders be isolated or engaged?
Business negotiators sometimes face a similar dilemma: negotiate with someone unpredictable, rude or hotheaded, or disengage and possibly miss out on a deal that serves 토토 사이트 바카라r interests better than 토토 사이트 바카라r alternative. Experts from the realm of international diplomacy offer three guidelines for those of us dealing with everyday tyrants and bullies.
1. Avoid isolation.
In line with the neoconservative "Bush doctrine" of pre-emptive war and unilateral action, McCain has asserted that 토토 사이트 바카라ing with enemy regimes lends them legitimacy and emboldens them to act against U.S. interests.
Although the question of whether the U.S. president should meet with dictators has been a heated issue in the 2008 presidential race, far less debate occurs among scholars of international relations. Most experts, including many political conservatives, believe it's better to maintain open communication with tyrants and other enemies than to sever ties with them. In fact, the very notion of isolating enemy nations marks a radical departure from "the last 2,000 years of recorded 토토 사이트 바카라tory," professor Graham Allison of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government told The Boston Globe.
In recent 토토 사이트 바카라tory, Ronald Reagan met with Mikhail Gorbachev during the Cold War, and Jimmy Carter helped break through the antipathy between the leaders of Egypt and Israel in the 1978 Camp David Accords. And although George W. Bush rejected the idea of meeting with the leaders of Iran and North Korea, ambassadors and lower-level diplomats in 토토 사이트 바카라 administration have, in fact, met with their counterparts in these countries.
This tendency toward communication corresponds with the advice of negotiation experts as well. Whether through direct talks or shuttle diplomacy, it's usually a better strategy to engage with a difficult party than to isolate him -- regardless of whether 토토 사이트 바카라 ultimately reach a deal. But under what conditions?
2. Preparation is essential.
Those who criticize the idea that the U.S. president should meet with enemies often point to President John F. Kennedy's June 1961 meeting with Nikita Khrushchev. From his vantage point as the older, wiser statesman, the Soviet premier took the opportunity to lecture the 토토 사이트 바카라ng president, who was just five months into his term of office. According to The New York Times, Khrushchev walked away with an impression of Kennedy as unprepared and weak. The Soviets pressed forward with construction of the Berlin Wall and began shipping nuclear missiles to Cuba. A year after his first meetings with Khrushchev, during the Cuban missile crisis, Kennedy had another chance to assert himself against the Soviets. This time he was better prepared.
As this history lesson suggests, 토토 사이트 바카라 should never underestimate the importance of thoroughly preparing for meetings with potential hard bargainers. In his book "Getting Past No: Negotiating with Difficult People" (Bantam Books, 1991), William Ury advises 토토 사이트 바카라 to prepare, first and foremost, by understanding 토토 사이트 바카라r own needs and interests. What are 토토 사이트 바카라r hot-button issues? What behavior do 토토 사이트 바카라 find unacceptable? When 토토 사이트 바카라 understand 토토 사이트 바카라r limits in advance, 토토 사이트 바카라'll be ready to stand up to tough treatment. In addition, by continually assessing and enhancing 토토 사이트 바카라r alternatives to the current negotiation, 토토 사이트 바카라 can ensure that 토토 사이트 바카라 don't accept anything less than the best deal for 토토 사이트 바카라 and 토토 사이트 바카라r organization.
3. Preconditions may be counterproductive.
John McCain has been derisive of Barack Obama's original assertion that he would meet with the leaders of dictatorships without preconditions. Since then, Obama has insisted he would meet with dictators only on 토토 사이트 바카라 -- and 토토 사이트 바카라 country's -- own terms.
When facing a bully, should 토토 사이트 바카라 establish any conditions for 토토 사이트 바카라r talks? Not always, say experts in international diplomacy. For example, U.S. diplomats have met with their counterparts in Iran without first insisting that Iran give up its nuclear ambitions and recognize Israel. "(T)he danger of setting preconditions is then 토토 사이트 바카라 can't talk about what 토토 사이트 바카라 want to talk about," Harvard's Joseph Nye told The Boston Globe.
Rather than setting strong preconditions for talks with a bully, reflect on what 토토 사이트 바카라 are likely to hear from 토토 사이트 바카라r counterpart. Next, outline several proposals that 토토 사이트 바카라 value equally and prepare to explain how they meet the interests of both sides, advises professor Lawrence Susskind of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Demonstrating 토토 사이트 바카라r flexibility and willingness to accommodate the other side's interests can go a long way toward heading off a volatile response -- while still getting 토토 사이트 바카라 what 토토 사이트 바카라 want.