Meeting with Stan Christensen

Stan Christensen is the managing director of Arbour Advisors.

« Getting to yes » is the main book on negotiation that Stan recommends.

The students of the master “Innover et entreprendre” from ESCP have been received in his office. Stan gave us a lecture about negotiation.

Here are the key points of the talk:

 

How to direct a successful negotiation?

1/ Use objective criteria, outside standards that are objective and fair

2/ Forget about negotiation tactics (doesn’t work for long term relationships)

3/Never bluff unless you know how to deal with the consequence of the bluff

4/ Treat the other party fairly, people will always remember your behavior towards them

5/ Be fair, that will give you a good reputation, lead to a good relationship with the other party, which is the best for long term relationships and your personal brand

6/ Always know what is the alternative, brainstorm the options together with the over party

7/ In order to meet both sides interests, understand what are the other party’s interests (since they may care about different things that you do)

 

Stan’s best advices for successful managers are:

1/ Be aware of your weaknesses

2/ Do not be afraid to hire better people than you

3/ Be super open (transparency about salaries for example could be a good thing)

4/ Never lie about anything

5/ Always get things done. Identifying the problem is not enough; people have to come up with solutions to solve the problems.

 

This talk was the first talk the student of the master “Innover et Entreprendre” (MSIE) from ESCP received during their study trip in the Silicon Valley. They have all been impressed by the energy Stan was generating when he was giving his lecture.