In the comedy “Seinfeld” George is complaining to Jerry that his relationship with a new woman is not going well. She has the upper hand in everything, George says, adding, “I have no hand, no hand at all.” Jerry observes: “We all want the hand. Hand is tough to get. You gotta get the hand right from the opening.” For negotiation expert Roger Volkema, hand is everything—and it's called leverage.
Leverage means being the seller in a seller's market, a sole supplier, or a car repair person for someone who doesn't know a differential from a distributor. In negotiations, Volkema defines social leverage as “the more it costs Party B not to have an agreement with Party A, the more leverage Party A has.”
But what exactly determines leverage? Perceptions rule the day here. Posture, clothing style, seating arrangement, location of the discussion, and the number in your entourage may all grant or indicate leverage.
Once we understand what leverage is, Volkema goes to the heart of the matter: how to create and use leverage to your favor. For example, you can alter your counterpart's perceived wants or needs, which is exactly what Tom Sawyer did to convince Huck Finn to whitewash the fence for him. Leverage can also be gained by tapping into the counterpart's affiliation needs, such as the family that bids on a home and includes a note from the children saying how much they want to live in the lovely house.
The ultimate goal isn't to win at all costs. You must win, but the other party should be left feeling that they would negotiate again with you in the future. So plan to spend considerable time managing the negotiation process and charting the flow of leverage back and forth between the parties.
The book is full of quizzes and other evaluations to assess your own abilities as a negotiator and to improve your recognition and use of leverage. He leaves the reader with this sage bit of advice: Once you have learned the skill of leverage, practice it constantly in real life. This expertise can quickly disappear when not exercised. Gaining hand is a skill-based activity, after all.
Volkema is a consultant and professor at Kogod School of Business at American University.
- Sean Silverthorne