When You Do Have to Do the Grunt Work

Of course, while you should try to get there, you may not be in a position in your organization to avoid being on the front lines of negotiations. Most of us are required to slog in the negotiation mud on many occasions as we work our way up the professional ladder. But even so, there are a couple of strategies you can adopt to enhance your status in your organization as you participate in negotiations, and they relate directly to what we have discussed in the preceding paragraphs.

First, come up with suggestions for new business relationships for your organization. Be the one who assists the CEO or other top executive in formulating the "agreement in principle" that gets the negotiations started. If you are in on the front end of a deal, you will get some extra credit when the deal finally closes. Second, think of possible "sweeteners" and propose them to the boss as a way to get the deal done. Then watch happily as the boss gets the credit for closing the deal with a sweetener you have developed. The boss will never forget that you made him or her look good. You will get the next promotion—it works like a charm. As counsel to several large companies, I have seen just that situation happen literally dozens of times.