​In our webinar earlier this year with Greg Crabtree, speaker, entrepreneur, financial expert and author of Simple Numbers 2.0, he shared what returns entrepreneurs should expect from their business: 5% net profit is survival, 10% is a good business, and 15% is a great business. These numbers are true for about 70% of businesses.

He and his firm have since discovered a financial metric and standard that works for any company, regardless of industry, and that helps CEOs find surefire ways to improve their return on investment.

In this Gravitas Impact Premium Coaches podcast, Crabtree shares this better metric, the additional levers to improve your return and how, contrary to a lot of financial advice, a business owner’s best investment decision is often not to diversify into other businesses, but rather to reinvest in their current business.

​Greg also shares how his background growing up on a chicken farm to becoming an accountant has led to how strongly he feels about helping entrepreneurs create security for their families.

​Subscribe to Gravitas Impact podcast: Android

How can you improve your company’s return on investment?
​
​To find out how to increase your return to grow more easily, quickly and profitability, AND enjoy the ride, try our complimentary Agile Growth Checklist. This self-service questionnaire takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You'll receive the checklist with your responses immediately. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a compiled report highlighting areas to improve. Complete section 5 to check your profit processes. Or complete all 7 sections to find out how your company is doing in each of the 7 areas needed to produce more rapid, profitable and sustainable growth. This report is complementary and involves no obligation.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Pink is globally celebrated for his rigorous research on work, behaviour, and motivation. He says autonomy, mastery and purpose have giant implications for the future of work, employee productivity, job satisfaction and overall wellbeing.
 
Pink’s influential big-idea books (“When,” “To Sell is Human,” “Drive,” “A Whole New Mind”) have sold millions of copies globally and have won multiple awards. His latest book “The Power of Regret” was named a Best Book Of 2022 by NPR, Amazon, Apple Books, and the Financial Times. He’s been ranked in the Thinkers50 list for the 7th time, and his renowned TED talk has been watched over 40 million times.  
 
In this exclusive opportunity, ask questions LIVE and explore Dan’s wide-ranging ideas around the future of work, employee engagement, and overall life satisfaction.
 
You will learn:

• Valuable highlights of Dan Pink’s body of work
• Insights into motivation, engagement, and productivity
• Live and unscripted answers to your questions about life and work
• Fresh tools to improve your leadership

There’s a mismatch between what the science says and what business does.” – Dan Pink

​Join Dan Pink LIVE and ask him your questions directly- you won't want to miss this opportunity!
​
Tue, 20th August 2024
8:00pm - 9:00pm MB / 7:00pm - 8:00pm SK

​Fuel, food, raw materials and intermediate products are getting more expensive. It's the best time to renegotiate your own terms. If you don't, you'll miss valuable opportunities to improve your business position - and let others take the lead.

In this article, you will learn why the human brain dislikes negotiating, why compromise is always the worst choice, and why empathetic negotiators can beat even the toughest negotiators. 

I will also share five concrete negotiation tips to help you find the best solution for both parties without compromising. These tips are based on the US bestseller "Never Split The Difference" by former FBI chief negotiator, entrepreneur, and negotiation coach Chris Voss.

The human brain does not like to negotiate.

If you're like me, the thought of an upcoming negotiation doesn't necessarily make you excited. If we think about it for a moment, that seems strange. The chance of getting what we want after a negotiation should be reason enough for us to go into such a situation with joy. Yet we feel inner resistance rather than excitement; this is the case even with the best salespeople.

Brain research explains why this is so: every negotiation means hard work for our data center – and that contradicts the core goal of our brain to save energy. 

Negotiation situations are a balancing act between the joy of getting something (gain) and the pain of having to give something up (loss). Since gain and loss are processed in different regions of the brain, these regions must communicate intensively with each other during negotiations, requiring an enormous amount of working memory. 

Understandably, our brain would rather avoid such a neural feat of strength – thus forego the chance of winning a successful negotiation. 

The good news is, like any muscle, you can train the interaction between these two neural systems. So it's worth regularly putting yourself in negotiation situations and challenging your brain.

Compromises are always the worst choice. 

Negotiations are successful when both sides emerge as winners. In other words, they aim for a classic win-win scenario. And that's a good thing. However, many people confuse such a win-win scenario with making compromises. That's wrong! 

"Negotiations are not about compromises, but about finding out the other party's red line," says former BKA negotiator and current negotiation coach Thorsten Hoffmann. 

It's not a case of "I'll give you a little, and you'll give me a little." That way, everyone gets something, but neither gets enough or what they actually want. 

Losses outweigh gains

What makes things even more difficult is an exciting psychological phenomenon: loss aversion. When making compromises, everyone must give up something important to them. That is not easy because nobody likes to lose - even if they gain something else in the process. 

Think about it for a moment: You win a contract worth 50,000 dollars. Are you happy? Indeed – for a day or two. You lose a contract worth 50,000 dollars to a competitor a week later. Does that annoy you? And how – probably for the whole week. 

Our brains have double standards regarding gains and losses, and it has been proven that losses are more important than gains. This is why compromises such as "we meet in the middle" do not feel like success but leave a bitter aftertaste. 

Tactical empathy beats "tough dogs." 

Hollywood films have shaped our image of successful negotiators. They are the tough guys who stick to their position without compromise—the cunning opponents who spot the weakness of their negotiating partners and then exploit it cold-bloodedly. The atmosphere is tense; the camps harden, no one trusts the other, and no one gives in. Who stands firm? Who gives in first?

Please put yourself in such a negotiation situation: To which person would you be more likely to make concessions?

1. A tough, cunning negotiator who is adamant about his demands, who uses every statement you make against you, pushes you into a corner and forces you to abandon your demands? 
2. Or a pleasant counterpart who treats you in a friendly and polite manner throughout the entire negotiation, asks questions and listens, and obviously wants to understand your position and motives?

In his bestseller Never Split The Difference, former FBI negotiator Chris Voss writes that people are more likely to make concessions and deviate from their own negotiating position if they feel understood, respected, and valued by their counterparts. He shares nine negotiation principles that have made him successful over the years. I want to introduce you to five of them.  

Five tips on how to negotiate successfully without compromising

How can two parties reach an agreement if they don't make concessions and compromises to each other? Instead of trying to narrow your two conflicting ideas until you reach the lowest common denominator, work out a new, mutually acceptable agreement.

Tip No. 1: Break down the barriers.

Don't think in terms of fronts and avoid language that conveys "mine" versus "yours," "right" versus "wrong," "good" versus "bad." Presenting a solution as your idea versus your counterpart's, as right versus wrong, creates an antagonistic environment. Neither party can make concessions without sacrificing autonomy and integrity in such an environment. 

Instead of presenting your solution at the beginning of a negotiation, focus on building trust and gaining a more comprehensive understanding of your counterpart's point of view. Read the following four points to learn how to do this.

Tip #2: Get the other person to say, "Yes, exactly!"

You've probably experienced this before: While your counterpart is still arguing, you're already preparing your counter-argument in your head. What happens is that you stop really listening; this prevents mutual understanding from developing. 

If the person you are talking to does not feel heard and understood sufficiently, they will not be able to absorb what you have to say because their mind is still focused on themselves and their concerns. 

So listen carefully, ask questions, and paraphrase what the other person says until you really understand their core motivation. Only then can the other person say, "Yes, exactly," and be ready to listen to you from now on. 

Tip #3: Collect valuable information using the mirror technique. 

You want your counterpart to open up and give you more information about their real motives, their goal, where the no-gos are and where you can find hidden levers that can positively impact your negotiations. The mirror technique is easy and excellent for getting the other person to talk without interrogating them. It works like this:

• The person you are talking to tells you something you want to know more about.
• They take the last one to three words of the statement and reflect them back as a question.
• Your counterpart will now elaborate and specify this aspect in more detail.

What happens: This simple questioning technique allows you to dig deeper and gather helpful information without being intrusive. Your questions make the other person feel heard and valued. The fact that you use the exact words brings you closer together again and breaks down the barriers. 

Tip No. 4: "Label" your conversation partner's feelings. 

Decisions in negotiations always involve emotions. Discover your counterpart's emotions, address them, and give them a "label." For example, "It sounds to me as if…" or "That sounds to me as if…" 

With this technique, you can get your conversation partner to talk about these feelings and explain themselves further. Not only do you collect valuable information, but you also build trust and can, therefore, steer the negotiation in the right direction. 

Tip #5: Find the "black swans".  

Chris Voss calls the hidden information about our negotiating partners "black swans" that show us what they fear or desire most. They are usually beyond our assumptions, flash up as fragments of information during the talks and have the potential to turn a negotiation entirely in our favour. There are three types of such levers:

1. Positive levers give your negotiating partner something positive or take something negative away from him.
2. Negative leverage can harm your negotiating partner.
3. Normative levers are the values ​​and morals of the other person under which they act and make decisions.

When preparing for a negotiation, look for "black swans."

Consider: 

• What could be the motives of your negotiating partner?
• What might your negotiating partner most desire? What do they most fear?
• What can you give your negotiating partner that will cost you little time and effort?
• What good could you do for your negotiating partner, and what could the consequences be?
• What could lead to positive collaboration?

If you cannot find levers in your preparation, use the mirror technique and labelling described above to gather more information about your negotiating partner. If you want to understand your counterpart's motives, listen carefully, ask questions, and paraphrase, you will sooner or later discover "black swans." Use them. 

Conclusion

If you – like me – like to scroll straight to the end of an article, here are the essential findings summarized again:

1. Negotiations are neural exertions that our brains would like to avoid. 
2. You can train negotiations like any muscle.
3. Compromises are always the worst choice in negotiations because both sides feel they lose more than they gain (the principle of "loss aversion").
4. Tactical empathy beats tough guys and cunning negotiators.
5. Avoid mental and verbal fronts such as "me" versus "them," "right" and "wrong," "good" and "bad."
6. Go into the negotiation with the mindset of wanting to understand your counterpart.
7. Listen actively, ask questions and summarize until the other person feels wholly understood and can say, "Yes, exactly."
8. Collect valuable information about your negotiating partners using the mirror technique.
9. "Label" the feelings of your negotiating partners and create sympathy, trust and closeness.
10. Find the levers ("black swans") among your negotiating partners that can turn the negotiation in your favour.

https://justgrow.eu/blog/​

If you're interested in reading more of Olaf articles please visit the website link above. (Please note that Olaf's site is in German but Google translate does an excellent job of instantly translating it to English.)

How can a great business, growth & executive team coach help you grow a thriving company?
​To find out what areas a qualified executive team coach can help you improve in to grow more easily, quickly and profitability, AND enjoy the ride, try our complimentary Agile Growth Checklist. This self-service questionnaire takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You'll receive the checklist with your responses immediately. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a compiled report highlighting areas to improve. Find out how your company is doing in each of the 7 areas needed to produce more rapid, profitable and sustainable growth. This report is complementary and involves no obligation.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution, first published in 2004 by Stephen R. Covey, was revised and rereleased in 2012 by his son Sean Covey and colleagues Chris McChesney and Jim Huling. It covers a comprehensive system for executing change across a company.

The 4DX system is organized around four principles: 

1) Focus on a small number of wildly important goals (WIGs). The more you try to do, the less you actually accomplish. So narrow your focus and make tough choices.

2) Act on lead measures contributing to those goals. The WIGs still need to be measured. But measuring the actions to achieve the WIGs will support accountability for what’s truly actionable.

3) Keep a compelling scorecard. It must be so simple that team members can track their own score and they determine instantly if they are winning or losing.

4) Create a weekly cadence of accountability to contribute to moving the score. Unless we consistently hold each other accountable, the goal naturally fizzles in the whirlwind of the day-to-day.

4DX is a detailed and highly specified system refined by the FranklinCovey organization over the last decade and a half. 

I’m usually wary of any book that claims its system will work well every time. However, I can say that 4DX does work for executive teams (alot of the time - more on that below). 

It’s very similar to the approach from Scaling Up and the 7 Attributes of Agile Growth that we use with leadership teams to help them execute their strategies. And that works.

That said, how well these execution disciplines work depends on a number of things, such as:

• how many of the executive team members are truly A players (being highly productive in their role and consistently living the company’s values);
• if the team is aligned on the company’s purpose and philosophy, what each of their roles are and how they interconnect, and where they need to go as a company; 
• if the team has developed the trust, candor and courage to hold each other accountable;
• if the CEO supports team members’ development through one-on-ones and quarterly reviews;
• if team members hold each other accountable for applying these same practices within the teams they lead.

While 4DX is a proven execution method, the results will be limited if these other more foundational aspects of the business aren’t also worked on. 

This is the benefit of a holistic, integrated approach to business growth like Scaling Up or the 7 Attributes of Agile Growth. They go beyond symptoms to address the root causes of top team challenges, stymied company growth and CEO frustration.

Book: 352 pages, full audio - 8 hours 30 minutes, abridged audio – 3 hours 40 minutes. Summary on Soundview: 8 pages, 22 minute audio. On GetAbstract: 5 pages, 10 minute audio.


How can you improve your team’s execution?
​
To find out how to improve your execution to grow more easily, quickly and profitability, AND enjoy the ride, try our complimentary Agile Growth Checklist. This self-service questionnaire takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You'll receive the checklist with your responses immediately. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a compiled report highlighting areas to improve. Complete section 4 to check your execution practices. Or complete all 7 sections to find out how your company is doing in each of the 7 areas needed to produce more rapid, profitable and sustainable growth. This report is complementary and involves no obligation.