How to get what you want

Would you like to know how to influence people, sell your ideas, and become a dealmaker extraordinaire? If you do, Jim Murray, PhD, can help. As a law professor, labour relations mediator, and influence psychology specialist, Murray can help you discover the secrets to all aspects of successful negotiation, from buying and selling to bringing a colleague on side.

"Negotiating is really a life skill, not only a business skill," says Murray. He asserts that the same fundamental process and skills can be used to do anything from buying a business to persuading a teenage son to do his homework.

Effective negotiation skills are particularly important to CAs. According to Murray, accountants have a technical, analytical orientation that brings valuable content skills to business negotiations, but they often lack strong process skills. Improving one's understanding of human behaviour is an effective way to enhance the latter. "Human behaviour is largely predictable, and insights can be gained by understanding ethnic, gender, and age differences," asserts Murray.

As an example, he notes that during arms negotiations, Americans and Soviets had a tough time reaching an agreement not because they differed on the overall goal, but because of their failure to recognize each other's negotiating style. 'Americans are traditionally impatient, and would make too many concessions early on in the negotiations. Soviets viewed this as a sign of weakness, and instead of meeting them half-way would expect them to make more concessions," Murray explains. The result was frustration and poor negotiating on both sides.

Space is limited, so don't wait to register for Negotiating I and Negotiating II, November 28th and 29th. For details, check your PD catalogue or visit the Professional Development section of our Web site at www.ica.bc.ca.

Copyright Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia Oct 2000
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