What Role Status Symbols Play In Negotiations
When it comes to sitting around the negotiating table, we're all
equal, right? In a perfect world, the answer would be yes. We don't live in a
perfect world and so the answer is a very solid "no". So what does
this mean for us - do some negotiators deserve to get more?
Where Negotiating Status Comes From
Where does this status thing come from? It seems to play a role
in our negotiation styles and negotiating techniques. I'm pretty sure that
we're all very aware of the role that social status used to play in European
society back in the day. You had your upper class folks and then the rest of
humanity. If an upper class negotiator sat down to negotiate with a lower class
person, then they would be starting with a huge advantage simply because of their social status.
This would undoubtedly affect the final deal that was negotiated.
Those days are long gone - or are they? In Europe, as well as in
places like India, although officially the social classes have been removed, traces
still linger. When two negotiators from two very different
backgrounds sit down to negotiate, the ghosts of their family's backgrounds can
at times haunt the room.
Additionally, a new type of social status symbol has arrived on
the scene. A person's success in life as represented by all of the
"bling" that comes with success - money, power, acclaim, etc. can
elevate their social status. If you don't believe me, then just imagine how you
would feel if you were sitting across from Donald Trump trying to negotiate a
deal with him!
How You Can Deal With Status At The
Negotiating Table
I'd like to be able to tell you to just
ignore status when
you are conducting your next negotiation. Focus on the deal that you're trying
to create and ignore who the person that you are negotiating with is or where
they come from.
That's easy for me to say and very hard for you to do! It's
never going to be easy for you to overlook the other side of the table's status
- it's going to affect your negotiation process. Instead, I'm going to suggest
that you do something else that will help you to work through this issue.
In order to retain your composure when you are negotiating with
someone who has more status than you, you need to boost your status.
The easiest way to go about doing this is to do additional work preparing for
the negotiations. I have found that people with status often assume that their
status is going to help them to reach a deal and so they will often not do as
much preparation for a negotiation as they should have. Do your homework and
you'll be better prepared than they are and their status won't matter as much.
What All Of This Means For You
We do not live in a perfect world - we
are not all equal. Instead, status and status symbols play a
role in every negotiation - this is almost a part of the negotiation
definition.
What this means for you as a negotiator is that you need to
realize that status can play a role in how you both
view and treat the other side of the negotiating table even when you are conducting a
principled negotiation. You need to work to overcome any status advantage that
they may have by working extra hard to prepare for the negotiation - you need
to be the best prepared person at the table.
Status as something that makes people different is something
that we'll always have to live with. As long as you know that this is an issue,
then you can take steps to deal with it and make sure that it does not
influence the deals that you make.
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