Hillary Clinton’s 4 Tips for Successful Negotiation

To negotiate is, in its most basic sense, to make something happen through discussion. The word comes from the Latin negotium, meaning “not leisure”—which is apt, considering that negotiation requires compromise. While there’s nothing leisurely about negotiation, the end result is typically worth the interim struggle. Few people know this as well as Hillary Clinton. Every individual in a negotiation will have different boundaries and comfort levels. But keep in mind that expecting to fulfill one hundred percent of your agenda every time is not realistic; in fact, it’s not negotiation.

1. 1. Be respectful. Multiple studies have shown that negotiation can be an act of mirroring. Open with a hostile remark and you’ll get hostility in return; lead with kindness, and the other party is likely to follow suit. If your counterparts believe that you are operating in good faith, chances are they’ll be more open to your positions.
2. 2. Draw your red lines. A military expression of disputed origins, “red lines” in this context means goals and underlying values that are not up for negotiation. Identifying those items is arguably as important as envisioning the ideal outcome of a negotiation because it helps you clarify what matters to you the most. If, however, you have too much behind your red line, you won’t have much to offer the other party, and the negotiation is more likely to break down.
3. 3. Know your goals. This deceptively simple step requires you not only to pinpoint your ideal outcomes—the things you would get if you could simply wave a magic wand—but to determine where you’re willing to compromise. Start from the top: If you can’t get everything you want, what are you most willing to part with? By working through your goals in this way, you’re effectively drawing the map that will guide you through the negotiation (keeping in mind that you can never anticipate everything that’s going to happen at the table).
4. 4. Look from the ground up and the top down. In order to stay effective and avoid burnout, look at any negotiation through two lenses: moral and practical. By asking yourself what you really care about and what you can take on with a decent chance of success, you’re going to do far more good in the world than someone whose ideals are unrealistically rigid—or someone who takes on so much that they lose sight of those ideals. This ties in with a maxim that Hillary favors: Pick your battles.

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