5 Best Books To Gain The Art Of Negotiation

The art of negotiation is a skill that is quickly becoming vulgar and unseeming in a society that runs on strict and stringent algorithms that dictate the price, a futures price and any fluctuating price of any commodity, guided by rising and falling stock as well as fickle consumer demand. In this world populated with ultra-rich moguls and their workers, money becomes is something taken for granted.

This, however, does not reflect the attitude of the masses, and this is where the importance of negotiation comes to the fore. Negotiation, however, does not merely relate to a monetary transaction or buying a commodity as it is an essential part of meetings, interviews and major deals. This is the primary reason why it is vital to master the art that is negotiation.

Negotiation is also present in all facets of modern life like contracts, salaries and commodity exchange, but it is not an inborn talent. Hence it is important to learn how to drive a good bargain and negotiate with stark effectiveness in the modern world.

Now let’s look at some of the best negotiation books to help you learn about the intricacies of negotiation –

1. Negotiation Genius: How To Overcome Obstacles By Deepak Malhotra

Deepak Malhotra is widely regarded as an expert in the field of negotiation, and his book offers some of the essential tips for any person to follow for this process. His Harvard Business School credentials are more than enough to warrant a read into his veritable brainchild in the field of negotiation. 

This book breaks down the many steps involved in negotiations of every kind, thus setting you up with the necessary confidence to succeed in this regard. He has also explained complex negotiating mechanics using the familiarity and ease of daily life and real-world examples. The tenants he goes by in his book are universal in negotiation. The book is sure to offer you a fresh perspective that helps you find common ground, get information and exploit weaknesses to get on top in any negotiation. 

2. Never Split The Difference By Chris Voss

If anyone is an authority on negotiation, it is Chris Voss who has worked as a hostage negotiator and has immense experience in using negotiation tactics to navigate life or death situations literally. 

His perspective on negotiations gives us a brand new vantage point from which we can experience them, as he meticulously breaks down the various interactions and negotiations he had to make in his work. This perspective helps us understand the importance of negotiation. This is achieved using his nine counterintuitive strategies that will make a difference in the way you go about life. 

3. Getting Past No: Negotiating Difficult Situations By William Ury

Rejection is something every one of us has had to deal with at some point in our lives, and the simple no has the power to bring even the most collected people into disarray. Some of the most brutal no’s happen in the workplace as opportunities for an overwhelming no are ripe, and there are countless managers, supervisors and others who have the ability to break your spirit. 

What is the solution, you ask? This book offers different kinds of solutions fine-tuned to fit your difficult situation and how to move past it. With the solutions, this book offers, you will learn to move past these rejections, learn from the nos, and get back to them with an offer they cannot refuse. 

4. Getting To Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In By Roger Fisher And William Ury

A spiritual sequel to getting past no, this book navigates the natural progression of turning a no into a yes in negotiation. This is universally accepted as the endpoint of a negotiation, and the entire book focuses on what you must do to attain it.

In the book, the authors apply negotiating mechanics and tactics to real-world situations, offering you advice on what to do during some challenging moments in life. These tactics are well dispersed between the ones to use at home and ones you can turn to in a professional setting. 

5. Crucial Conversation Tools For Talking When The Stakes Are High By Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny And Ron Mcmillan

Being nervous is an entirely normal part of any job or a stressful negotiation situation. A state of nervousness can upend your confidence and throw any plan formulated by you out the window, and it only regresses after that. 

This book aims to offer you a method that efficiently prepares you to combat this nervousness and engage productivity. In addition to these valuable steps, the authors have also tried to give real-world examples of high-pressure situations and offer solutions for them. The art of negotiation is also much more than an exercise in rhetoric. It involves many real-world applications that involve small scale persuasion to ones that need more elaborate planning.

Negotiation has massive advantages financially, but more than that, it evokes a feeling of satisfaction after successfully navigating a deal with an unknown entity. Hence it becomes an exercise in implementing yourself and your point of view.