Identifying the qualities required of an international negotiator
Adapting to the cultural context when negotiating across cultures involves understanding and respecting the laws, customs, and traditions of the other party. This can include researching and familiarizing oneself with the other party’s legal system and cultural norms, as well as being mindful of differences in communication styles, body language, and social etiquette. By showing respect for the other party’s culture and legal system, one can build trust and facilitate a more successful negotiation.
An analysis of successful negotiator behavior :
To reach a satisfactory agreement for both parties during a negotiation, it is important to control one’s emotions. By keeping emotions in check, it becomes easier to steer the negotiation towards its goal. Emotional intelligence is an essential quality when conducting a negotiation.
The soft-skills required for successful negotiation include:
- Language skills
- Self-confidence: knowing one’s strengths and limits
- Balance: understanding one’s internal emotions and what soothes or annoys oneself
- Resilience: accepting adverse circumstances and remaining calm under pressure
- Self-motivation: finding stimuli that bring out the best in oneself
- Empathy: being able to “put oneself in the shoes of others”
- Listening ability: understanding the thoughts and interests of the other party
- Social skills
- Communication skills
- Ability to work well in a team
The art of cross-cultural negotiation: What to do and what to avoid
Quality 1: Understand the commercial law and practices of different countries.
- Avoid: Ethnocentrism, ignorance of differences, managerial arrogance
- Tips: Learn the main behavioral codes and cultural sensitivities. Show actions, facts, and reputations rather than words. Don’t negotiate in a language you are not fluent in.
Quality 2: Be open and patient
- Avoid: Inflexibility, blindness due to rigid preparation
- Tips: Listen to the other side’s views and problems before presenting yours. Don’t rush to close the deal too soon. This is a common mistake of North American and French negotiators.
Quality 3: Be humble
- Avoid: Overconfidence
- Tips: Don’t interrupt, especially with negotiators from very different cultures (Ex. Asian vs Meditarrenean).
Quality 4: Control yourself and your emotions
- Avoid: Emotionality, excitement, haste
- Tips: Don’t talk too much and give away information. Use pauses effectively. Be restrained, as some cultural models (e.g., Asian, Middle Eastern) prefer.
Quality 5: Practice discernment
- Avoid: Dogmatism
- Tips: Highlight the similarities between your position and the other side’s. Then select and process the main differences.
Quality 6: Accept the unexpected and the emergent
- Avoid: Focusing on one preferred solution, intolerance of ambiguity
- Tips: Have a direction but multiple goals. Have multiple tactics. Don’t reveal your power and margin too early. Be flexible and adaptable to changes.
Quality 7: Know your legitimacy and scope of action
- Avoid: Bluffing without real foundations, undervaluing your real strengths
- Tips: Negotiation can involve dependence and power relations. So, rely on your real strengths rather than the relational game. Never underestimate the other party.
In summary, how to negotiate across cultures
To negotiate successfully across cultures, one must adapt to the legal and cultural context.
- Be open and patient
- Be humble
- Control oneself and one’s emotions
- Exercise discernment
- Accept the unexpected and emergent
- Know one’s legitimacy and scope of action
“People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups. We can love what we are, without hating what – and who – we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.”
Kofi Annan
Happy CEO 