416: How to Negotiate When Others Have Power, with Kwame Christian

Kwame Christian: American Negotiation Institute

Kwame Christian is a business lawyer and the Director of the American Negotiation Institute. His TEDx Talk, Finding Confidence in Conflict, was the most popular TED Talk on the topic of conflict of 2017.

Today, he’s working extensively with procurement departments within companies to help them make better deals. Kwame hosts the top negotiation podcast, Negotiate Anything and is the author of the book Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life*.

In this conversation, Kwame and I discuss walking into a negotiation situation when someone else has more leverage, power, or authority. Yes, there are still many things you can do to influence a positive outcome for both parties — and we detail several practical actions almost anybody can take.

Key Points

• Preparation before entering into negotiation is essential. Research supports that you will do better, even if the tables are tilted to one side.
• Finding what is publicly available about the other party before you go into a conversation can be very useful to both parties.
• Our tendency is to give things away before we are even certain the other party wants them.
• Your self-awareness and emotional state are key to acknowledge going into negotiation. Beware feeling too positive about the potential outcome.

Resources Mentioned

• Kwame’s Ultimate Negotiation Guide
• Negotiate Anything podcast
• Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life* by Kwame Christian
• Thinking Fast and Slow* by Daniel Kahneman

Book Notes

Download my highlights from Finding Confidence in Conflict in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

• Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It, with Chris Voss (episode 262)
• Negotiation Tactics for Results, with Kwame Christian (episode 311)
• Enhance Your Self-Awareness, with Daniel Goleman (episode 353)

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