Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to another episode of A Done Deal.

Keshav: It is my pleasure and honour to introduce my guest today - Mr. Raju Venkataraman on the show today. Raju brings 30+ years of rich C-suite experience from the corporate world as CFO, Head of Strategy, Business Unit Head, Head of Sales & Distribution - marking him out as a versatile and savvy leader. His most recent corporate role was as CFO & Head of Strategy of Walt Disney Company for South East Asia. Presently, as a Coach and Corporate educator, Raju is powering on senior leaders to fulfil their potential and aspirations amidst change and disruption. Raju's cross-functional range, sharp business acumen, art of people management and insight into the Asia-Pac business region, make him a sought-after leadership and career coach. So, welcome, Raju.

Raju:
Thank you, Keshav

Keshav: So, ladies and gentlemen, Many people think of Negotiation as a formal process conducted behind closed doors by high powered executives, politicians or world leaders. Still others think of it as the same as Bargaining in street markets. While both of those may well be subsets of negotiation - However, Raju, you view negotiation as a common, everyday activity or process that most people use to influence others and to achieve personal, team or organisational objectives - even as we take the other party's objectives and needs into account. The truth is, nearly everyone must negotiate. Your career, your finances, your reputation, your love life, & more - at some point, all of these hinge on your ability to negotiate. That is why, Negotiation is one of the most important business (and life) skills you should work on developing. Is negotiation a critical part of what you do? Do you need to resolve conflict and persuade & influence others at work? If you have answered yes to those, you will love my discussion with Raju

Keshav - Raju, Let's get started by having you tell the audience a little bit about who you are and what you do?
Raju:
I love negotiating, talking about it and teaching it. I also continue to learn more about it especially teaching and training people in negotiation skills using virtual medium.

Keshav - I always had known that preparation is vital but did not realise that there are so many aspects to the preparation part. And what is the third mistake you - d like to include?
Raju:
Not managing your emotions well and letting it get the better of you - Unhinged emotions can push people to do things they later regret. Genuine displays of emotion - love, sadness, joy - are of course part of life. But it - s important to recognize that these emotions, while real, reduce listening, and Instead of focusing on goals, interests, and needs and effectively communicating, emotional people focus on punishment, revenge, and retaliation. Deals fail, goals are unmet, judgment is clouded. But then, Some get carried away by positive emotions & offer unplanned concessions. So, while it is not possible to eliminate emotions, it is critical that we need to manage emotions and stay on top of them There are other mistakes that negotiators make but these would be the top 3 mistakes I - d like to cite

Keshav - Could you please shed more light on what you mean by managing emotions well?
Raju:
Emotions are a natural part of interpersonal relations, and certainly play a role in negotiations. That - s why, instead of denying or ignoring emotions, good negotiators identify and influence them. For them, emotion is a tool.

Emotions aren't the obstacles, they are the means. There are 3 areas of Emotion Management
* Nurture a Positive Environment
* Manage Your Emotions
* Manage Their Emotions Let me quickly share a bit about each of the three

Keshav - That sounds so familiar - but often one gets a mixed bag when dealing with some people - How do you negotiate with irrational people?
Raju:
These labels of rational / irrational etc. are in our head. Obviously the other party does not think they are irrational. Anyway - when you encounter such people - it is important to keep our end goal in view. You have to give them emotional payments.
* Value what they say. Say to them 'tell me more'.
* If they place the onus of the solution on us, we can say - sure, am happy to take the initiative - why not solve the problem together. the emotional payment could be an apology, words of empathy or a concession. It could be just hearing someone who is upset. Emotional payments have the effect of calming people down. They get people to listen and move people, little by little, toward a better result for us.

Keshav - And how does one handle ultimatums?
Raju:
There is also the question of how to handle ultimatums.
* 3 negotiation questions for you to consider:
* Are they likely to follow through with the threat?
* Is it their way of saying they want to be heard, understood and respected?
* Did I / we do something to trigger the threat?

Based on the answer to these questions, you will strategise

Be clear about your goals, what you want out of a negotiation. Stuart Diamond says - When my son was little and cried out for Lego toys , I used to say - 'I give Lego toys to children who clean their room, are you such a boy?' In short, It is about consultation, not confrontation. And this approach should work with most people. Did that answer your question, Keshav?

Keshav - Absolutely, Raju. Thank you ever so much for sharing your views; it always is fascinating to hear your distilled insights, Raju.