Alan Sugar Quotes

I have a lot of problems understanding connections between people and how to negotiate that. It makes everything hard offstage.

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

In business, there are times when you disagree, and sometimes it turns out that you're just plain wrong. Humor takes away tension and helps you realize you're wrong.

That's probably a problem for some people in this business, they don't like to listen.

The most important thing in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without too much apparent loss of face.

Conflict is drama, and how people deal with conflict shows you the kind of people they are.

I don't fight with people - like, I can barely fight with my husband because I'll just start crying instead.

I just make it my business to get along with people so I can have fun. It's that simple.

A really good uniformed cop has tremendous people skills, and they learn how to read people.

I've always thought I'd been pretty good with people, and I basically have spent a conflict-free life, you know?

I feel like I've always been a great mediator.

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.

I think everybody has a point where they're not going to cross that line. There were a couple of things with Comedy Central that we had to fight for. They were pretty cool about everything. I don't think there was anything we really fought for that didn't happen.

In my first meeting with somebody, I kind of say, "What are your expectations?" And there are some people who say, "I just want to be fair," so then we have to qualify what that means. But when somebody comes in and says, "I just want to nail him. I just want to exact as much punishment as I possibly can." Well, that might be a case where I say, "We may not be the right firm for you."

Another rule I have is: Don't let your ego get tied up in a policy dispute. Otherwise, if things don't go your way, you can end up breaking a relationship with somebody with whom you can't afford to break.

You've got to be able to know someone really well to be able to have a row and then also walk away from it and not have it matter, especially in this business. That doesn't mean to say we have many rows but I think the nearest thing to a row would be just flatly disagreeing with something .

Create the impression of endless willingness to compromise and you almost invite deadlines. That's the challenge we now have in North Korea and have had in North Korea for 10 years. In this sense, diplomacy and foreign policy and other elements of political activity have to be closely linked and have to be understood by the negotiators

When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.

No negotiation is ever possible if you have to negotiate not only with the people in the room but also with some other committee in permanent session.

If each side had been frankly contending for its own real wish, they would all have kept within the bounds of reason and courtesy; but just because the contention is reversed and each side is fighting the other side’s battle, all the bitterness which really flows from thwarted self-righteousness and obstinacy and from the accumulated grudges of the last ten years is concealed from them by the nominal or official "Unselfishness" of what they are doing or, at least, held to be excused by it.

Diplomacy is much more than just talking to your friends... You've got to talk to people who aren't our friends, and even people you dislike.

A peace deal requires agreements, and you don't make agreements with your friends, you make agreements with your enemies.

During a negotiation, it would be wise not to take anything personally. If you leave personalities out of it, you will be able to see opportunities more objectively.

Number one, that it is smart to communicate and negotiate with your enemy instead of just waging war with bombs and weapons of mass destruction.