Leverage: How to Get It and How to Keep It in Any Negotiation [Paperback]

Roger J. Volkema (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 2006

"What is the most important aspect of any negotiation? The very best negotiators know that the answer to that question is leverage: the perceived advantage that one party has over another. Since leverage is based on perceptions, this subtle factor can change quickly and frequently during deliberations. Knowing how to identify, gain, and sustain leverage is what sets great negotiators apart from the rest of the pack. Leverage helps you maximize your negotiation skills by showing you how to recognize and use this often hidden trump card to your advantage in any situation. Written in an engaging, down-to-earth style and packed with self-assessments and sample negotiations, the book is filled with insightful advice and suggestions designed to increase your mastery of this indispensable component of all negotiations. Whether you're a negotiation expert or just a beginner, Leverage helps you build personal confidence and advance your skills as a negotiator. Presented in an interactive format and illustrated with numerous examples, the book progresses from two-party negotiations to more complex and specialized situations including multi-party and international negotiations. Along the way, there are questionnaires, exercises, mini-cases, and simulations to help you hone your skills, as well as check your progress and comprehension of important aspects of leverage. The book gives you practical, strategic guidance on how to: * Identify the indicators or signals of leverage. * Decrease the amount of leverage held by the other party. * Manage emotions-both your own and the other party's-and use them to your advantage. * Gain leverage in e-mail negotiations. * And much more. Anyone who wants to win consistently at the negotiating table needs to master the art of gaining and maintaining leverage. Leverage is a one-of-a-kind book that shows you how to gain the upper hand, and get what you want, more often."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Roger Volkema does an excellent job of breaking down the skill[leverage]in this interactive workbook." -- Associations Now

Book Description

"What is the most important aspect of any negotiation? The very best negotiators know that the answer to that question is leverage: the perceived advantage that one party has over another. Since leverage is based on perceptions, this subtle factor can change quickly and frequently during deliberations. Knowing how to identify, gain, and sustain leverage is what sets great negotiators apart from the rest of the pack.

Leverage helps you maximize your negotiation skills by showing you how to recognize and use this often hidden trump card to your advantage in any situation. Written in an engaging, down-to-earth style and packed with self-assessments and sample negotiations, the book is filled with insightful advice and suggestions designed to increase your mastery of this indispensable component of all negotiations.

Whether you’re a negotiation expert or just a beginner, Leverage helps you build personal confidence and advance your skills as a negotiator. Presented in an interactive format and illustrated with numerous examples, the book progresses from two-party negotiations to more complex and specialized situations including multi-party and international negotiations. Along the way, there are questionnaires, exercises, mini-cases, and simulations to help you hone your skills, as well as check your progress and comprehension of important aspects of leverage. The book gives you practical, strategic guidance on how to:

• Identify the indicators or signals of leverage.

• Decrease the amount of leverage held by the other party.

• Manage emotions—both your own and the other party’s—and use them to your advantage.

• Gain leverage in e-mail negotiations.

• And much more.

Anyone who wants to win consistently at the negotiating table needs to master the art of gaining and maintaining leverage. Leverage is a one-of-a-kind book that shows you how to gain the upper hand, and get what you want, more often."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 17 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (March 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814473261
• ISBN-13: 978-0814473269
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,487,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strategic lesson: how to start with leverage and move anything, November 6, 2006

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leverage: How to Get It and How to Keep It in Any Negotiation (Paperback)

Leverage is a useful way of thinking about how to gain the advantage in a negotiation, but the concept is essentially a crystallization of what good negotiators have been doing for centuries. Author Roger Volkema does an especially fine job in two areas: useful examples and methodical explanation of your options. He classifies common power plays into types that you can identify, practice and counter. He provides examples of each type drawn from real experience and the popular media. The result is easy to read, understand and apply. The book would have been even stronger if he had added more that was new, if he had grappled more directly with situations where the parties lack leverage and if he had gone further on such matters as ethical negotiation. Yet, as noted, we praise his examples and strategies, and recommend this book to people who want to improve their negotiating skills.

2.0 out of 5 stars More of a primer on the identification of leverage, than anything else., March 27, 2011

By 

eCognition (CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Leverage: How to Get It and How to Keep It in Any Negotiation (Paperback)

The book is full of examples and definitions for the various aspects of negotiating, but not enough techniques that can be used during the process of negotiations. The book reads like a undergrad text for a business selling class, but what I was looking for was something that delved into the psychology behind negotiations and the use of leverage in overcoming objections the individual on the other side of the bargaining table might have. The examples were way to simple and relied heavily on tv shows. The possible solutions to the "who's got the leverage now?" questions in the book were a matter of common sense. I'm new to this process, but never had to think more than a few seconds when deciding who was holding the leverage in that situation. There was no "meat" in this book.

I have a habit of reading several books at a time and just so happen to be reading a book that did cover what this particular book missed. It's "Getting to yes" and it's been printed for some time; however, the information is timeless and even though I'm only halfway through the book, I've highlighted the heck out of it. In that book, the psychology is dealt with thoroughly and you'll find yourself nodding consistently as the biases and the emotions that result from those biases ring true in everyday life, as well as in deep inside the negotiating process.

In addition, as a previous commenter noted, "Leverage" defines the ethics of the bargaining process, but then stops short of explaining how one might overcome the ethics one finds offensive. "Getting to yes" covers the ethical side of negotiations quite well and explains how two well-meaning people can define ethics differently and still reach an amicable agreement by removing the person from the problem (the particular point of negotiation being objected to). There just weren't enough "aha" moments in leverage, so I can't really recommend it for someone dealing in the negotiating process on a daily basis.

In short, "Leverage" will give you the tools for managing leverage, but it won't really show you how to use them. There are other books that can cover this topic better, such as the one I mentioned in this review. I wish you the best in your future negotiations.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gain power and advantage in any situation, March 23, 2007

By 

ruffh2o "ruffh2o" (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leverage: How to Get It and How to Keep It in Any Negotiation (Paperback)

Roger Volkema's book about leverage provides an excellent overview of the many types of leverage involved in the bargaining process, with exercises and examples to illustrate the concepts and teach the reader how to master the art of negotiation.

Of the many exercises and self-assessments that are included in the book, some are very elaborate, requiring substantial role-playing with one or more partners.

The methodology and principles outlined in this book can easily be applied to any situation. By providing the reader with a broad scope of information regarding leverage and negotiation techniques, and exercises with which to develop proficiency in managing power and advantage, this book is a superb and insightful resource for professionals at all skill levels.