Negotiation Styles, Labels & Skills (Labels Suck Redux)

As Art graciously blogged about last year, I gave a presentation called Labels Suck at Wash U.’s symposium on New Directions in Negotiation.  It was a fun opportunity to let loose on what I have long believed is a hindrance to student learning–that we focus on determining overarching styles too much at the expense of focusing on the skills that each student needs in order to negotiation more effectively.  Furthermore, I argue, certain skills like social intuituion or ethicality (the level of ethical behavior) have never been part of the traditional styles paradigm.  The article, now in print and online, outlines five key skills that negotiators should have:  assertiveness, empathy, flexibility, social intuition, and ethicality.  As I am continuing to write along these lines for my next piece, I would love advice or suggestions for additional articles that tell us how to get better in each of these areas.  Particularly in the latter two areas, I feel like there should be more out there so I am turning to our readership for help.  Thanks much in advance for your suggestions!

2 thoughts on “Negotiation Styles, Labels & Skills (Labels Suck Redux)”

  1. This article may be helpful: Robin Wellford Slocum, An Inconvenient Truth: The Need to Educate Emotionally Competent Lawyers, 45 CREIGHTON L. REV. 827 (2012). At the very least, the discussion of Louis Cozolino’s work on the “emotional” brain and the “thinking” brain is interesting.

  2. I myself can’t help with any advice or suggestions, but I do feel this article was very helpful to ADR in general, and especially our class. I would recommend touching on this in the next edition of the textbook!

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