As you might expect from someone selling a book on negotiation, who runs a negotiation consultancy, Steve Gates says that improving the way we handle ourselves when doing a deal is essential to success. He claims to offer a "philosophy on negotiation" that will help readers secure better deals. This requires realising you are responsible for "making decisions based on your own judgement".
The essence to being what he dubs a Complete Skilled Negotiator is to get inside the head of the people you are dealing with. Understanding their desires and motivations and, in particular, listening to what they have to say is more important than taking up a strong position yourself or focusing on what you want.
Gates goes so far as to make the case that sometimes you may need to put values to one side to be effective in doing a deal. Honesty and openness are commendable, but they may be costly if the person you deal with doesn't share them.
This is a good guide to negotiating skills and Gates does a sound job of explaining the processes and tricks of effective negotiating as well as the psychology behind them.
