The_Essential_Manager_s_Handbook

388 / SETTING YOUR STYLE

Learning from the masters

whole brain

Setting your style

Ned Herrmann, author of The Creative

Brain, proposed that there are four

thinking styles: the rational self, the

safekeeping self, the feeling self, and

the experimental self, which relate to

dominance in different quadrants of the

brain. Negotiating is a whole-brain task,

requiring the ability to be diligent and

rational (quadrant A activities), to plan

and organize well (quadrant B activities),

to interact well with others (a quadrant

C trait), and to be bold and take risks (a

quadrant D characteristic).

Improving your style

However, only four percent of the

population is dominant in all four

quadrants. So most negotiators have

strengths and weaknesses in performing

the negotiating task, and should work

to improve their weakest areas.

Negotiators who have limited abilities

in the feeling self (quadrant C), for

example, can improve by developing

their emotional intelligence. A negotiator

with limited abilities in the experimental

self (quadrant D) can improve by taking

creativity workshops.

We all think differently, and naturally bring our own “style” to the

negotiating table. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your

thinking style, and tailoring your approach to take into account the style

of your counterpart, can greatly improve your success in negotiation.

CHECKLIST...

Utilizing thinking style differences in negotiation YES NO

1 Have you determined what your own thinking style is? ................

2 Have you identified your weaknesses in negotiation

and are you working to improve in those areas? ...........................

3 If putting together a team of negotiators, have you taken

each person’s thinking style into account?

Do they complement one another? ..................................................

4 Are you able to quickly assess the thinking style of others? ........

5 Do you take your counterpart’s thinking style into account

when negotiating with them? ...........................................................

US_388-389_Negotiating_from_the_whole_brain.indd 388 30/05/16 3:06 pm