Laying a Foundation of Integrity

Most startups face the issue of getting brand awareness when they first emerge on the scene. This is where clever and precise marketing efforts will help spread the word of their existence. But this is only a start and the word going out sounds like "Hey, there is this new kid on the block .....".

Marketing doesn't truly help say how credible you are. And given the amount of exaggerated advertising out there, even the consumers have become generally more skeptical. Thus, any business expecting to operate into the distant future would require integrity and credibility to substain itself. Even corporations with long history of excellence and tradition fall prey when they harbour key employees with less than expected integrity. Such is the importance be staying true to your values and that of the company to bring it further. Often there are occasions where it seems more lucrative to shake off ones integrity for a while, but it sure isn't going to pay off in the long run.

However, it sometimes does takes a lot for a company to 'do the right thing'. When there has been a dangerous defect with a product, would it immediately issue a recall order or would it just send its PR Crew to clean up the toxic 'reputation' spill ?

Back to the startup scenario, besides the initial funds on hand, credibility is the best asset which you have. The industry you startup in is more often than not going to be a tight community where word spreads fast. So don't blow away your credibility because it's never coming back after that.

To quote J.P. Morgan Jr. in a statement made about being a banker -- "Since we have no power of knowing the future than any other man, we have made many mistakes (who has not during the past five years?), but our mistakes have been of judgment and not of principle."

Low-down on Negotiations (Part III)

Ok, the final part cometh ...

Alright, just some final quick thoughts on negotiation I have :

1) Always go for a win-win deal. These are the ones which help seal lasting partnerships and promise greater trust and cooperation in the future. Win-Lose deals in your favour only act as once off advantages and trust me, you won't be seeing much of the other party after this deal is concluded.

2) Think of what you can offer instead of what you want. You may not think so but there may just be something you can offer at very little or no cost to yourself but may make a world of a difference to the other party. Even if you try to offer something which is not so helpful to the other party, at least he or she will appreciate the fact that you tried and maybe try to do the same for you.

3) Be professional and attack the points not the people. Lets face it, there will always be times when you will be fighting with your counterpart for a better deal and even be tempted to go into personal biases like "He's always so stubborn" or "Why can't she just see it from our perspective". Its common for both sides to fight on the points of the deal but one should always recognise the the people sitting across the deal table is just doing his/her job, just like you. Respect that fact and be professional enough to duel on subject matter.

4) Have fun with everyone. Just like everything else in life, having fun will go a long way in deal crafting. Take some time to know who you are working with because chances are if you pull it off right, you will all be working closely a lot more. Work with people on the deal and get to know them more. And just when you see more turf of your recently-pulled out hair starting to appear on the table, it may just be time for a break, which is excellent for bonding. All work and no play make for pretty long and fruitless discussions.

Hope this trilogy of posts on negotiation has been as fun a read as it was for me to pen it... Good luck and have fun!

Low-down on Negotiations (Part II)

And now on to part II ...

Basically, there are 3 main elements of every negotiation. These can be easily remembered using the mnemonic TIP - Time, Information and Power.

Time - This refers to the amount of time you have to close a deal. Generally speaking, the side with the tightest deadline is one hanging on the short end of the stick. If the other party has a tight timeline to work with (due to their superiors, financial positions or external conditions), playing the delay card can force them to make a favourable settlement in your favour at the last moment. But this only works if they absolutely have to close the deal. Likewise, it would be wise not to reveal the deadlines that you may have for your schedule and play it cool during the negotiation process even when you know you need to settle the deal soon.

Information - Knowledge is power and this old adage weighs especially well in negotiations. In some sense, one needs not only to know what the opposition needs/wants/fears/can give up/cannot give up, but also needs to know oneself well. What this means is that before entering a negotiation stage, one should always at least set out the parameters of the deal into a list of items that are must haves and which are nice to haves. From experience, I have seen a lot of people going into deal-making without knowing what they even want to achieve. And frankly, this just translates into a tremendous waste of time for all involved. On the flip-side, one should also try to find out or deduce what the other party has up his sleeves and which of items they can give up and live without.

Power - Here, power does not mean actual power per se, but perceived one. A lot of people commonly mistake this negotiating element to equate to financial, postitional status or otherwise. However, this is not the case. For example, if a common businessman has a multi-billion dollar deal for millionaire to invest in, you can guess where the perceived power lies. Personally, I've also seen situations where people with pretty good and interesting deals just shrivel up in front of people they are pitching to because they believed that they were just small fries to someone richer and more powerful. This is not the case as the one last shred of power that virtually everyone at the deal table has is the power to say no and walk off on a bad deal.

So, these are the 3 parts of deal making that you can watch out for and prepare and work on. Hopefully with enough practice, they would become second nature to you as a negotiator soon.

( to be continued ...)

How to stop smoking

The government has been pumping in tons of moola in its efforts to stop smoking but mainly they just use the shock factor... How about trying this on for a little creative humour?


[via : Across the Board ]

Low-down on Negotiations (Part I)

Though it may not feel so, negotiation is actually a pretty big part of our daily personal or working lives. The skills and knowledge behind crafting a deal are thus essential to pick up.

In a general sense, one can approach negotiation with basically 2 types of mindsets, the "Win-Win" or the "Win-Lose".

In the highly competitive environment today, a lot of us have grown accustomed to a zero-sum mentality with the attitude that someone has to lose out in order for ourselves to get ahead or get added benefits. This is common in cases for example in typical employer-employee relations -- Employer wants to pay less and Employee wants to get paid more. This clearly illustrates the "Win-Lose" mentality at work. "Your loss is my gain" is the name of the game here. However, with both sides playing the same way, its easy to get stale-mated or end up with less than desired mutual benefits.

On the flip side, there is the "Win-Win" Mentality in which both sides stay aware of the needs and wants of the other party and find a common ground for mutual benefit. In some cases, a better working agreement or scenario may even be found if the spirit of trust and open-ness can be established. This is why more deals are actually sealed away from the meeting table rather than at it. In the local context, the term "makan diplomacy" has even sprung up from the Singapore delegates who negotiated the US-Singapore FTA. This shows the importance of establishing a common ground of trust as the foundation for talks and discussion.

There was a story of a management research done to compare managers' negotiation styles from the States with those from Japan. An experiment was carried out and for both cases, a line was drawn on the floor between 2 managers, who were then tasked with just one simple objective : getting the other party to come over to your side.

The American managers tried all ways and means to bribe, coerce, trick or force the other party to budge and cross the line. And guess what? No progress whatsoever was achieved with both parties staying firm on their sides. The Japanese managers took a wholly different approach though. The thought about the situation and discussed about it, saying " Hey, if I cross to your side and you cross to mine, doesn't that make us both winners?" And so they shook on it and did just that.

So, think win-win and negotiation with both sides' welfare in mind, and you just may end up with more than you expected in a shorter time.


(to be continued .... )

[Also on : sgEntrepreneurs ]

Telling the world you are different

Differentiating from the rest is something that many strive to achieve and few actually get. So sometimes, keeping things simple and with a dash of humor goes a long way as the video below shows :

Maneuver Warfare in Business

Managed to read a portion of a Speech by Col. John Allen today. It speaks of the striking similarities between the battle ground and business today and the concepts that yield victory on both. This is the first time I read about the term "Maneuver Warfare" and thought it was a good thesis on how speed and intent is crucial to business success.

" Maneuver warfare, as in business, as in battle, war and conflict, is a time-competitive process. It favors the side which is quicker in decision making and relentless in execution. ...... Speed generates a force multiplying effect. Operationally, we sought their weak points, and where we found them, we penetrated them quickly, we moved deep into their rear area as quickly as we could, we bypassed their strength and left that behind to be handled by follow on forces. Leaving the commanders of the enemy troops the reality of reporting from the battlefield that mechanized forces, Marine Corps forces, are in our rear areas and they're moving for the capital, and we cannot stop. That report alone is chilling and generates an immobility of decision making"

- Colonel John Allen

79th Commandant of Midshipmen
US Naval Academy

Speed is of the essence.

But to support and exploit speed, there needs to be a common vision, coupled with trust and empowerment of everyone in the organisation. In my experience, this is the toughest portion of it all and lots of opportunities are lost mainly due to both hesitation on the ground level or bottlenecks at the top level.

Its not a easy goal to achieve and while smaller teams generally have the advantage, bigger organisations can also train up to these standards. Being more responsive and decisive is key to competition in this new economy.

Remember, every bit of additional time one puts in gives the competition more breathing space to plan and counter-act. Don't give them that chance.

[Also on : sgEntrepreneurs ]