Chapter 32Negotiating Principles: Concentrate on the Issues

Power Negotiators know that they should always concentrate on the issues and not be distracted by the actions of the other negotiators. Have you ever watched tennis on television and seen a highly emotional star like John McEnroe jumping up and down at the other end of the court. You wonder to yourself, “How on Earth can anybody play tennis against somebody like that? It’s such a game of concentration, it doesn’t seem fair.”

The answer is that good tennis players understand that only one thing affects the outcome of the game of tennis. That’s the movement of the ball across the net. What the other player is doing doesn’t affect the outcome of the game at all, as long as you know what ...

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