Brian Koslow Quotes

Negotiation is empathy. It's almost trite to say that if you can't put yourself in the seat of the other person you're speaking with, you're not going to do well. It's not about being a bully, not about making offers people can't refuse.

When you expect to get into a negotiation, you expect to be faced by a guy that's going to attack you, a guy or gal that's going to attack or that they're going to try to get the best of you. Two-thirds of us, that makes us very defensive.

Great negotiations happen when people are relaxed, so a relaxing environment is important. A high-energy environment tenses people up. It closes them up. You're not as likely to get that concession.

It's learning how to negotiate to keep both sides happy - whether it's for a multi-million dollar contract or just which show to watch on TV, that determines the quality and enjoyment of our lives.

Negotiators run the risk of achieving agreement and then having to take yes for an answer when they are emotionally accustomed to confrontation.

Never get angry. Never make a threat. Reason with people.

You have to negotiate with people who don’t trust you and vica versa. You have to be very careful but you can’t be paralyzed.

I'm willing to sit down with anybody and have constructive criticism.

Yes, negotiating is about money and the bottom line, but a lot of times, it's much more emotional and complex than that. Realizing that the economic outcome may not be the other party's top priority gives you more chips to play with and will enable you to achieve better results than you may have anticipated.

I'd like to add that negotiating is not something to be avoided or feared - it's an everyday part of life.

I'm a calm person who wants to talk about things and think things through.

My job is to come up with something that you like and you agree with that you would play wholeheartedly. If we disagree, I may not be doing my job correctly.

It's better for me to go up against someone's passion with my passion and then clarifying something that he wrote. Then I know how to work around certain things.

Negotiations can create conditions that can lead to solutions.

Hot heads and cold hearts never solved anything.

In my mind, a good leader would say, 'OK, I need to sit down and talk to the guys who oppose me. Let me let them voice their opinions; let me get their thought process.'

Always remember that your calmness under fire is your best defense in any argument or discussion.

Unfortunately, I am not the typical, old-school, 'Yes dear, you're right,' just to get out of a situation. I am more of the type to work it out until you think I'm right or I think you're right.

Emotions aren't the obstacles to a successful negotiation; they are the means.

If I had a row with my husband, it's not going to work my saying, 'Right, if you don't do what I want, I'm going to walk out.' It doesn't work on any level. What you do is you go in and you say, 'I have a problem. You have a problem. Let's try and sort this out together.' You don't come to an agreement with people who you're falling out with badly.

You tend to relate to the other person better if you understand their professional needs.

I never take fights personal and I'm not emotional when I'm fighting.

Conflict is good in a negotiation process... it's the clash of two ideas, which then, all being well, produces a third idea.

I feel like anything can be worked out; you just gotta talk through it as adults.

The most critical thing in a negotiation is to get inside your opponent's head and figure out what he really wants.