Dealcraft: Insights from Great Negotiators

Colin Powell the Negotiator I: Best Practices from Successful Dealmaking and Dispute Resolution

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Nov 4, 2024

Colin Powell, a distinguished soldier and former U.S. Secretary of State, shares his invaluable lessons in negotiation from a decorated career. He recounts high-stakes negotiations with Vladimir Putin over the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and a tense incident involving a U.S. spy plane in China. Powell also discusses mediating a potential conflict between Spain and Morocco, emphasizing the power of relationships, creative solutions, and adaptability in diplomacy. His stories illustrate profound insights into effective dealmaking and dispute resolution.

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ANECDOTE

Powell's Upbringing

Colin Powell's upbringing instilled a strong sense of expectation and shame, driving him to succeed.
Despite a C average, ROTC propelled him, and the Army's emphasis on performance further fueled his ambition.

INSIGHT

Value of Engagement

Even if a negotiation seems unlikely to succeed, engage to build valuable relationships.
These relationships can prove useful in future negotiations.

ADVICE

Understanding Counterparts

Understand your counterpart's background and motivations.
Seek personal connections and build rapport to facilitate negotiation.

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In 2015, before a rapt Harvard audience, Colin Powell recounted his poignant and incredible life story and career with me and my colleagues Bob Mnookin and Nick Burns. Interwoven into his remarkable accounts were lessons drawn from profound success and deep failure in negotiation. In this week's episode of Dealcraft: Insights from the World's Great Negotiators, I share three short examples of success from these conversations with Powell:

Dealing with Vladimir Putin over the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Negotiating with the Chinese government in a tense incident over the release of the crew of a U.S. spy plane that crash-landed on a Chinese island
Mediating an impending conflict between Spain and Morocco that threatened to escalate into a confrontation between the EU and the Arab League

Via these three examples, I extract a number of best practices for successful dealmaking, negotiation, dispute resolution, and leadership, gleaned from Powell’s distinguished 40-year career in the military and State Department. In the weeks to come, I will continue to explore

these rich, powerful, and sometimes painful stories of negotiation from my time interviewing Secretary Powell.

About Dealcraft

For decades, I've practiced, researched, advised high-level clients, and taught effective approaches to complex negotiations. These experiences led me to create Dealcraft. I welcome you to join me as I interview some of the world’s greatest dealmakers and diplomats to share fascinating deal stories and distill practical insights for listeners to apply in their own toughest negotiations. You’ll find a 3-minute trailer and fuller description of Dealcraft’s first season here.

Host: James K. Sebenius

Co-Producers: Alex Green and Avery Moore Kloss

Outreach: Podglomerate

Materials courtesy of the American Secretaries of State Program, a joint effort of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Program on the Future of Diplomacy at Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School. Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College.