Whether one approaches the bargaining table from the perspective of leadership or a team member, it always helps to come in with the right attitude. As entertainment mogul Shonda Rhimes said in a recent interview: “Never enter a negotiation you’re not willing to walk away from. If you walk in thinking, ‘I can’t walk away,’ then … you’ve already lost.” Sometimes, however, it’s not about winning or losing. It’s about building better relationships between team members, upper management, and leadership. Now Wharton professor Maurice Schweitzer has co-authored a paper titled: “When Should We Care More about Relationships Than Favorable Deal Terms in Negotiations: The Economic Relevance of Relational Outcomes.”
This may be seen as revolutionary sentiment, and for many it is just that. In the paper and in a new interview, however, Mr. Schweitzer does his best to explain why traditional approaches to hard ball negotiations can be flawed. So flawed, in fact, that he and his co-authors developed a new negotiation paradigm called the Economic Relevance of Relational Outcomes (ERRO). Check out his recent interview and read the full article here. For the next time you’re at the table, it might help to keep some perspective on what is most important.