Welcome to a new recurring #baldinbusiness feature called Book Club Tuesday. Each week I will spotlight one book, and have a little fun in the process.
Book: Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
Author:Chris Voss
Length: 274 pages / 8 hours and 7 minutes via Audible
Why I chose to read it: I was fascinated about negotiation, and felt like I was a lousy negotiator. I’ve continued reading this book yearly because it is the master class in negotiation!
My Takeaways (3 or less): Ask more questions. I have particularly found the question, “how am I supposed to do that?” helpful. I am also clearer on what I can live with in a negotiation. Some things are more valuable to the other side than they are to me.
What does this book motivate me to DO? Last summer, when I was reading this book again, I used some of these tactics with the Hertz Rental Car check-in person. I empathized with everything going on with them, and they failed to see how disgusting our minivan looked after a 10 day rental. In Europe, they would have charged me a 900 Euro cleaning fee (the fact that I just made that joke means my credit card will be charged 50 Euros).
Who should read this book? None of our customers. Did I mention it is a lousy negotiating book? The real answer is anyone that wants to better their negotiation skills. Thank God Sarah isn’t reading this post…
I would sum my rating of the book as…This book is a combination of learning and fun. The hostage stories in the first few chapters are always captivating, even on successive reads. While I am not as giddy on some of the later chapters, the overall book continues to hold a prominent place on my “re-read” Goodreads shelf.
“If you haven’t read hundreds of books, learning from others who went before you, you are functionally illiterate. You can’t coach, and you can’t lead.” Jim Mattis