NEGOTIATING WITH BULLIES PART I
If you’re involved in a negotiation and discover that the other party is out of control, here are some responses for you to consider.
- People who carry on as if they are out of control are bullies. Usually something in their early upbringing and education has conditioned them to substitute temper tantrums for reasonable discussion.
- Bullies generally are strong at speaking to the point of dominating conversation and weak at listening. The typical bully often negotiates by stating take it or leave it bottom lines.
- Bullies size up others to see if they’re weak because they prey on weakness. Often they have weak reasoning skills, being strong at threats and weak at discussion.
- Assuming that you are in no rush and can afford to bide your time, there is no point to responding in kind. Escalating this kind of negative behaviour guarantees that which ever of you can prevail longer will do so forcing the other to eventually walkout. It’s also exhausting for reasonable people to bully because they aren’t wired that way.More in Part II
