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Welcome to Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass. Jon is the founder and CEO of image group international, an award-winning image consulting and personal branding pioneer established in 1989. This podcast will bring you old-school wisdom, inspiring ideas, strategies and hacks for the new tech world. Here you will learn everything about personal branding: the system, the techniques and the right mindset to have a successful personal brand, image and reputation.

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Welcome to another episode of my podcast, and thank you for listening. Before we start our chat today, please remember to connect with me on social media. And what Twitter is Jon_Michail, my LinkedIn is Jon Michail. You can also find me as Image Group International on Facebook. Okay, so today we're going to discuss the art of negotiating. And specifically to exemplify this topic. Let's start off with an example. And this particular example is going to be about tennis. If you understand a little bit about tennis, you will agree that Nick Kiryas and Rafael Nadal have different temperaments. And it's no secret that the Australian Professional doesn't always play nice when juxtaposed with the vanish player. Of course, we've seen many instances where things have broken out from the perspective of arguments and hissing and all that sort of stuff. But it's important to remember this and not to misinterpret it at times. curiosa is chutzpah as just plain old boorish behaviour; the honest negotiation tactics, you know, with umpires over the years have divided not only his birth nation, Australia but also global opinion. So what I want to share with this example is the game of tennis has a lot of what we would call rules and regulations and protocols. And of course, if you look at the examples of a foul the Dow to a Kiryas. That said, other than personalities, they've got two different backgrounds. Kiryas, you know, he understands respect at times; he's not such a stickler for rules and regulations to the last degree where a Nadal is obviously different. And that's when the judgment comes in about his style. But what I would say at times, and by the way, I have written and commented on Nikhil else's behaviour in the past, but what I'd like to say today is there's also an aspect, especially as he's getting older and maturing, is that he's got a lot of chutzpah. And if you haven't heard of the word, chutzpah, it's a Yiddish word for what's known as shameless boldness to state one's case. And times, total disregard for others. And you're going to, you know, look at that and say, You know what, that's really interesting, because in my experience with negotiations, especially when you're talking about, you know, political, when you're talking about big business, that is something that I have seen many, many times over, of course, you get the niceties from an external image point of view. But what people really think and do behind the scenes is totally different to the public image. And they're often Terry's, this concept of hotspot at times and undesirable connotation. But it need not be that, for instance, in business circles, hotspot denotes a boldness that borders on, at times, rudeness and ultimately wins. Others admiration. Remember, it's only rude if you lose, you know, and this is the interesting thing, a lot of the big deals that are actually won were not seen as rude, but it was actually seen as hutzpah and, of course, great boldness to achieve that type of success. So it's really a paradox here. And understanding that paradox is where wisdom comes in. As opposed to skills and knowledge. Yes. Can you imagine the audacity of that, at times, you know, you won the deal. You were rude. But hey, you know, how dare you? Well, life is a bit like that, you know, because it's the winners that get to write the stories. And the nerve to put someone's points across a negotiation table without offending others is a desirable attribute. However, if that's your primary goal to be nice, then that's not negotiating from a real-world perspective. You know, if, and this is very important, because, of course, who doesn't want to be nice at times, right? You want to be accepted, you want to be liked, and you want to be appreciated, but at the same time, if that's Your primary goal, and I know a lot of clients have met over the years at times, that was one of the, what I would call the stumbling blocks in referencing the negotiation, then that could be a serious problem for you. So moderation is the key, no question. But yes, at the expense that you become shocked by No, I don't think so. So the thing here is that negotiation depending how high you go. And I'm not talking about, you know, negotiating at a flea market, although that's part of negotiations, it could be negotiating for your next position, it could be negotiating for your next role. It could be negotiating for your housing line; it could be negotiating for a business, a product you want to buy, or create, et cetera. It could be anything coming negotiating, by the way, with your children, although, of course, we want to keep that as authentic as possible. Yes, authenticity, does that come into a negotiation? Of course, it comes into everything. But just being authentic doesn't mean being stupid. And authentic doesn't mean becoming Sharkbait. And this is the key here because, you know, the only people with all the power who can afford to have no wisdom are the people with all the power. So if you haven't got a lot of power, you better get wise; this is knowledge is not going to do it by itself. So well, the art of negotiating any entrepreneurial landscape is more intense, and the basic principles of having a game plan are also critical to coming away from a successful negotiation in any situation. But the entrepreneurial landscape that I keep on banging on about is very, very different. Why? Because entrepreneurs, by nature, are creators, innovators, etcetera, they have to get up every morning and create, you know why? Because that's how they pay their bills. That's how they pay their team members. That's how they grow an organization. So patience and persistence, you know, eclipsed the need for an abrupt end to negotiations. And yes, patience is essential here. I suppose that's why we also have diplomats in reference negotiations. By nature, you know, to be in that role have a lot of patience, persistence, and a shameless approach. So they're not worried so much about their egos; they've got a job to do. And that's, and thank God, we've got him, because at times, you know, we'd be in war daily. So basically very important to learn some of these skills. Now, I want to say this, although I'm going to give you some examples, and I said, the art of negotiation, this art, and science, specifically, at times has what I would say are no rules. So what that means is you're going to know how to get in the flow. And at times, go with the flow, and the time sort of gets out of the flow; it's what I would call understanding how to be formed, and also, at times, formlessness. And that's what I would call a paradox. Understanding that is essential. And I think that's an important part of wisdom. So let me share with you five steps to master the art of negotiation. Remember, there are many other steps to you know, to incorporate. But let's keep it simple for today. First, you got to know, you know, what your endgame is. Why are you sitting there? What's the end result that you're looking for? What is it? You know, how specifically have you come to that understanding? Because if you haven't, you're actually negotiating, you know, something that couldn't go anywhere. And in the end, you want to know from a KPI point of view, is this what I actually wanted? So you got to be very, very clear. And from an example of what that could look like, it is okay; I want to go into this negotiation by potentially buying a product or a service that's going actually to help the business grow. So your endgame there is to get the business to grow. And of course, you work out your KPIs around that, what that actually looks like, so you can measure it. And that will become your evidence then if this actually works as an endgame. But so you got to get clear, the second step is becoming familiar with the other party's values. Now, the interesting thing here is a lot of what I would call his transactional negotiators don't care about any of that. Okay. And remember, again, I'm an image maker. So it's not like I don't understand the concept of manipulation from the point of view of image perception management and putting out a face the thing here is this becoming familiar with the other party's values. And this is something, of course, you know, that I've always practised and my company has, and I encourage my team and clients to do is coming from a relational perspective in the negotiations. Okay, of course, we all want to win it's human nature, but at the same time, you know, you don't want to kill basically the egg, the goose that lays the golden eggs. Okay, that's just insane. So I would say From our perspective, understanding the other party's values, you know, what they represent from the point of view of why they're what's important to them, okay? And this is all emotional stuff, you know, this is the stuff that you don't get to see on paper. This is where your own emotional intelligence or your EQ comes into play. So you can get a bit of a sense, you know, where they're coming from. And also, you might ask him, also, what's really important for you in all of this, and you know, this particular question is what I would call his the unsaid that you want to get on onto the table, so at least it's off the table, so then you don't have to worry about that. Also, remember never to go into negotiation looking desperate. And what that means is. Basically, you don't want to go in there looking like you need this. And without it, it's the end of the world that's going to finish you off. Okay, that's not, you know, that's not going to get you the result that you're probably looking for as part of your end game. What that might get you is a compromise. Now, the problem with compromises is this; people do compromises every day of the week. Okay, the problem with compromises is that sometimes we do what we must do because it's part of a longer game, but about compromises is eventually the compromise conversation, because it hasn't been concluded to a resolution will always come back. So the intention of a true negotiation, if you want to get a win win win situation for all parties, is to get a resolution. And what does a win win win situation mean? Well, first of all, it's, you get a win, definitely negotiation, it's a win for yourself because that's what you're looking for anything else than that is all airy fairy nonsense promoted to make you feel good, okay, so you got to get the win, the other side has to get the win 100%, okay. Otherwise, you're not going to get a true Win-Win; you're going to get basically a compromise as opposed to a resolution where I'm heading into in the last when is the when in the relationship, that the relationship is solid? Now, it doesn't always have to be like that. In some negotiations, of course, where I typically transactional, you know, the chipper wind is not that, in other words of both when the relationship, you know, is a little bit unstable, but they don't really care in that situation, because, of course, it was transactional. And as long as they got the deal done, everyone's happy. But I question that because if there is one party there, you're right, that didn't really get the satisfaction of pulling through the values, they, you know, they had to swallow some of the advantages to get this deal done. At times, I would say, again, that it was a compromise, not a true resolution. And finally, to conclude an implementation, this is essential as part of the negotiation. So, in all basic exercises like this, you know, it's about understanding the total picture. It's understanding, again, why you're going in there. What do you hope to attain? Does the end game understand the other side? What are they looking for, you know, 10, you actually deliver it? If you can't, that's where conversation comes in more negotiation to see what is possible. And then obviously, working out the process, how you're going to get this complete result that we're all happy. Okay, so I'd like to share a story. Having been in business for over 35 years, I've been in many negotiation situations for ourselves, as an advisor for our clients, or even being part of the negotiation team. And I'm talking about dealing with cultures around the world, including Korea, Japan, China, Brazil, Argentina, and of course, the US and England, from an Anglo-Saxon point of view, totally different to some of these other countries. And what I discovered is that all human beings, specifically, I believe, majority of human beings mean well, what they are looking for, you know, is obviously to get a result. And that's where the ego comes in. So understanding that we all have egos. And at times, you know, depending on who you're dealing with, some egos are bigger than others. But as I mentioned, a lot of negotiations were with very transactional people who did not care about the relationship, and others cared about the relationship I've already shared with you. From my perspective, I do care about relationships because I'm a relational type of guy. So what that was all about was learning some of that in the early days; I had no idea, especially, you know, in my mid-20s, et cetera, and had no idea, so I had to learn of that and how do you learn by making some mistakes and what do you do is and Whether we're also losing money, that's how you learn as well, you're not so it's so the key here is, is go out there and give it a shot, give it a shotgun, you know, going try different ways, because I've already said, if you're not willing to make mistakes if you haven't lost any money, if you haven't lost any deals, well, you'll never know. Because basically, you really have not probably learned how to negotiate well because every great negotiator also knows at times, they're not always going to win because that's the way it is. But understanding that is really a paradoxical way of living that I support. Because it's not always, you know, follow these rules. And I've already mentioned form and formlessness. Prior, it's about you know, these are, these are the guidelines. Okay, what do we do we go in that situation a bit like the art of war, okay, we know the rules and regulations. But what do we do, and this is where a smart negotiator sort of will do what they have to do to create, in my case, what I would promote the triple win, win, win-win. So that's the story for today. You know, I hope you've enjoyed it. It's such an important aspect of our lives. And at times, by the way, we think we're not good at it. But we've been negotiating since you have babies, and I'm sure you negotiated very well with mom and dad when you were a kid growing up when you're asked, you know, for fibres to get that deal done. So please remember the contact me if you want to become more powerful in your business and, of course, personal journey. Just send me an email, and we can have a chat. The email is on the description of the episode. Lastly, help us help you. I can't be asked you to rate this episode on the Apple podcast. Once you've done that, just email us, and we will send you an ebook, "the real world guide to authentic personal branding," by the way over 80 pages. Thank you. We'll see you next time and as always, have a great week. Cheers.

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Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass" Podcast is sponsored by Image Group International, a global team of practical, digitally savvy personal brand and image strategists based in Australia, committed to maximizing your impact, influence and authority in the business world. To learn more and apply for your personal coaching, seminars and group workshops, please visit imagegroup.com.au or call 1800 631 311.