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The Work Smarter Guide to Negotiation  By  cover art

The Work Smarter Guide to Negotiation

By: Jim Houghton, Kirk Kinnell
Narrated by: Peter Wicks
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Publisher's summary

Ditch the scripts and tricks for a smarter approach


Kirk Kinnell is a hostage negotiator and counter-terrorism expert with decades of experience. Jim Houghton has conducted complex M&A deals worth hundreds of millions. Despite their dramatically different backgrounds, they share the philosophy that negotiation is not a zero-sum game and that trust, integrity and fairness are essential to achieving a successful outcome.

This book combines their vast knowledge to show you how to prepare for and conduct negotiations in almost any environment. What holds true for ending a siege or keeping a hostage alive could be the key to getting your toddler off to bed or agreeing a pay rise with your boss. Their invaluable advice will help you be resourceful and calm amid the stress and volatility of real-world negotiations.

In business, this equates to winning repeat business and making more profit. In our personal lives, it means family harmony and better communities. If you are booking a wedding caterer or finding a builder for that long hoped-for renovation, it means seeing eye to eye and helping everyone get what they need on terms acceptable to them. And in hostage situations, it means saving lives. These techniques work at the highest level, and they will work for any situation you might face.

The Work Smarter series:
The 'Work Smarter' series of books provide shortcuts, tips and life-hacks for the development of essential business skills. The books bring together accomplished industry experts who have learned their trades at the coalface. They teach the skills ambitious businesspeople need in order to tip the playing field in their favour. It is the pirate equivalent of business advice; the antidote to conventional wisdom; 'smarter' practice over 'best practice'.
©2024 Jim Houghton and Kirk Kinnell (P)2024 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

Trust is the hard currency of negotiation. This book reveals how to earn it from gunmen to business hard-asses on the bumpy road to resolving the unresolvable (Fraser Hardie, Chairman, Teneo UK)
A refreshingly human take on a subject matter that's too often boiled down to tactics, techniques and pseudoscience. It's hard to ignore the book's fundamental takeaways given the diversity of the negotiations they're drawn from (Julia Crawley-Boevey, Group Head of M&A, BAT)
In the heat of the moment it's easy to get blinkered or feel cornered in a negotiation. It's reassuring to read that it's not just me who feels this way, but where this book really comes in is the snackable stories that really stick in your mind. (Mel Sullivan, CEO, Framestore)
These are not lessons from academic research nor the assertions of self-anointed gurus, but the experience of two professionals for whom negotiation is daily bread. Their real-life stories are fascinating in themselves, but also actionable - whether you're negotiating with your teenage kids, hostage takers or global corporations (Richard Eyre CBE, Chair, IAB)
I have been fortunate to work closely with Kirk for many years now. His skills as a negotiator are invaluable, just like his wisdom. This book is a part of himself. Enjoy! (Marwan Mery, President, ADN Group)
A very compelling read (Richard Mullender, The Listening Institute)
I am deeply inspired by Kirk's approach to negotiation, which he has developed as a former hostage and humanitarian negotiator (Dr Thomas Leiber, inventor, engineer, entrepreneur)
This is a book I should have read thirty years ago - it could have made life a lot easier! (Peter Mead, Vice Chairman, Omnicom Group)

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