Give In and Get On
June 30th, 2010 Filed under: Negotiation Tips — Negotiation Author
The workplace is a constant flow of giving and taking. Taking has a cost and the more you take without giving anything in return the less you will achieve in the long run. Knowing how and when to give in is a key ingredient to the success of those getting on. The natural response to a gift is to feel some sort of obligation to the giver. Use this response to help you get what you want.
There are a funny set of tensions in place when you work with your colleagues. In theory you are all there to work in the interests of the company. You are all part of the company resources and should be working together for the benefit of the shareholder. The reality is you are most interested in what you can get for you. How can you get more money, more security and more power? The same is true for your colleagues who are driven by their own desires and seek to get what they can for themselves. The aims of the company become subordinated to the rivalries and resistance the conflicting drives of self interest produce. Look around you and at most organisations you see people competing with each other and fighting for position, power or money.
The trick in this game is to adopt a strategy of success that arises out of helping other people be successful. Think about this a moment. If you can help and support other people get what they want and do this regularly you will soon start to benefit with both payback and support for you. It is actually easier than you think and requires an extra step in your thought processes. Before going after what you want take a good hard look at what those around you want. Get clear and specific about this and ask yourself the question what can you do to give it to them. Often you will be able to do this at no cost or a cost much less than the benefit you will accrue from their support. Give in to them and get on with your career. It will often work.
Stick with this strategy through your career. If it does not work where you are then you could be in the wrong place. Keeping with the approach and moving until you find the environment that works for you will get you much more of what you want and an environment that is a pleasure to work in.
Think about what others want and find ways to give in so you can get on.
Len is walking 1000 miles in 2010 to raise £100,000 for research in to a treatment for Multiple Sclerosis. If you want to read about his progress and see pictures of the places walked and the amazing range of people met please visit the 1000miles4hope blog at http://1000miles4hopeblog.blogspot.com/ and if you want to know more about the charity visit the web site at http://1000miles4hope.com/
