Bill Gates Teaches You How to Negotiate Like a Pro

Negotiation is said to be a journey into the unknown as the persons negotiating do not have any idea how it is going to turn out for either of them. It is impossible for you to read the mind of the other person and this leads to increased uncertainty while negotiating. Considering the importance of the role negotiation plays in the success of your career and life, The University of Atlanta has taken inspiration from the one who is widely known as one of the best in the world to get things done. Yes! Bill Gates is going to be your let you know about the secrets to negotiation success.

Listen more than you speak

The most important thing when you are negotiating is to listen, listen and then give your perspective without getting emotionally charged at the other person. Gates is an excellent listener and it was years ago that he was locked in the toughest negotiating encounters he had to ever face with Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs when Jobs has claimed the Microsoft Windows was a complete copy of the operating system that Apple was using at that time which in reality was actually liberally borrowed by Apple from Xerox.

Gates went to Apple and Steve Jobs charged emotionally at Gates, but the key over here was that
Gates stayed calm and listened to Jobs who kept on yelling that “you are ripping us off, I trusted you and now you are stealing form us!”  After listening to all what Jobs has to say without interrupting him Gates calmly responded to Jobs acquisitions and said, "I think it is more like we both had this rich neighbor named ‘Xerox’, and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out you had already stolen it."

And this was the key as he listened, remained calm and handled the situation with a response that calmed things down and the two founders later sorted things out.

Don’t let your emotions take over

Gates secret to negotiating may also be attributed to another fact that he is a little less emotional, not unemotional but rather a little less emotional as he knows that when dealing with people emotions need to be kept aside.

Anger, ego, anxiety and fear of exploitation hinder the process of an effective negotiation and the key over here is to be self-aware having a capacity to figure out quickly what triggered or what can trigger an emotional response analyzing the other person without getting emotional on the responses. You need to be passionate but at the same time you need to control your emotions.

Negotiation forms an important part of your overall success and we at University of Atlanta believe that your preparation and reflection are key elements to successful negotiation experiences. Learn more about career successful career lessons by following us on either of our social channels Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus or Pinterest.