Using Body Language to Your Advantage in Business 253
ask how you can resolve your problem. You will see their acts of
magnanimity as they extend arms and enlighten you.
The coalition builder
You can spot the coalition builder because he is always helpful.
Listen to him walk down the halls whistling his win-win tune. He
moves adeptly between the opposing forces of the armed camps
within the organization. Typically, he has the ability to see both sides
of the coin and is not overly connected to either. He brokers
arrangements, which are pure genius in compromise terms. The
reason is simple: he loses nothing in the deal, so the win-win is his
win. He sells the fact that he can create a truce and he does so by
creating a solution in which both of the opposing parties lose some,
but not all. King Solomon’s ploy to determine the real mother of a
baby was the ultimate coalition-builder move. (For those who are
weak on Bible stories: Each of two women claimed a baby was
hers. He said he would split the baby in half, which one woman
agreed to, but the other asked simply that the baby be allowed to
live.) Solomon, of course, resolved his dilemma more wisely than
most by doing the right thing while exhibiting utter brilliance. The
coalition builder is always the real winner in the situation. Opposing
him is dangerous because the solution he represents is the one that
makes the alpha happy.
The way to defeat the coalition builder is by having him identify
with your cause as he describes his solution. At that point, if his
solution has the potential to damage your cause, then his strategy
becomes self-defeating. This is a difficult ploy because most coalition