OTTAWA — Canadian National Railway Co. president Paul Tellier has been told on occasion that he overprepares for business negotiations, the National Post reports. But, he says, there is a method to his meticulousness.
“This is a point that cannot be overstated: You have to be prepared every which way about the people, the subject and your fall-back position. I want to be sure that we will not be blind-sided,” Mr. Tellier told Halifax psychologist Brad McRae, who interviewed him for a recently published book on the methods employed by master negotiators.
Mr. Tellier routinely corrals co-workers to take him through dry runs and “throw some curve balls” before he approaches any set of negotiations, he told Dr. McRae, author of The Seven Strategies of Master Negotiators, published by McGraw Hill Ryerson Ltd.
“He [Mr. Tellier] is so incredibly strategic,” but, at the same time, he is “incredibly personable,” Dr. McRae said in an interview last week. “It’s like talking to a favourite neighbour over a backyard fence.”
This ability to put the other party at ease is invaluable, Dr. McRae added, because the tone set at the beginning of a negotiation almost invariably frames the outcome.
Mr. Tellier was among 21 Canadians asked by Dr. McRae to share some insights on how to conduct a successful negotiation. The people profiled in his book — politicians, businessmen, community activists and labour leaders — all shared Mr. Tellier’s passion for preparation, but were flexible enough to go with the flow, he said.
The negotiators spoke of the importance of keeping their cool, clearly understanding the other party’s agenda, and coming up with sustainable settlements that are “robust enough to maximize everyone’s interests,” Dr. McRae said.
He said a skilled negotiator always has a Plan B, a Plan C, maybe even a Plan D. And, if it eventually becomes clear that there can be no meeting of the minds, if the person on the other side of the table is all bluff and bluster, sometimes the best option is to walk away.
“The concept of win-win has been oversold,” said Dr. McRae, who teaches negotiating skills through the continuing education department at St. Mary’s University and runs a consulting firm, McRae & Associates Inc., of Halifax. Sometimes, there is a clear winner and a clear loser, in which case the losing party has to make the best of the situation and move on, he said.
But in the vast majority of cases, a mutually acceptable deal can be found when the parties are willing to make an effort, he said.
Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers union, told the author that every set of negotiations is different and that personalities play a huge role — “there have been more strikes over personalities than issues at the table.”
Mr. Hargrove, who faces major contract negotiations with the Big Three auto makers this year, said his union reaches amicable settlements far more often that it resorts to strikes. He described his negotiating style as tough, but pragmatic.
“I am tough on issues that are important to us. If there is a perception of weakness, we will lose every time. Therefore, I prefer to come to the table incredibly well prepared, build the expectations high and roll back if necessary,” Mr. Hargrove is quoted as saying.
He added that his negotiations within the union are often as vigorous as his negotiations with the employers. “I argue as much with our own team as I do with the company. We have to get our committee on side with the issues. We also have to be pragmatic, and this means some of our aspirations may not be achievable.”
Former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna said he discovered that he was better off leaving the bargaining to others in union negotiations because his temper got in the way. “In a number of situations . . . I learned that my impatience was a disadvantage to bargaining and it intruded into the process and it cost us money.”
However, Dr. McRae writes, Mr. McKenna was masterful when it came to attracting new investment to the province.
As Mr. McKenna explained: “We had to know what was a ‘win’ for the other party because if you don’t know what that is, you can’t meet it. For example, in negotiating to get call centres to come to our province, we had to know about their interests as far as location, turnover and quality of the work force and how they prioritized each of these interests.”
Dr. McRae said in an interview that anyone can become a better negotiator.
“It does not matter if you are negotiating a merger on behalf of a major organization, fundraising, advocating for social justice or talking to your teenage son or daughter about how loud he or she plays their music. We all negotiate and we negotiate all the time.”