The 9 Levers / Inner
2 Know Your End First
Goal, minimum, walk-away line — before any move.
Most people walk into a salary talk, a deal or a fight with a hope, not a plan. Decide three things first: what you want, the least you'll accept, and the point where you walk away.
Built from: The 18 Laws of Leverage; The 33 Strategies of War; The 48 Laws of Power; The Art of War; Never Split the Difference; The Fine Art Of Small Talk.
Train this lever
- Best Negotiation Books: Which to Read First, and WhyThe negotiation books worth your time: Getting to Yes, Never Split the Difference and You Can Negotiate Anything. Who each is for and what to skip.
- Getting to Yes Review: The Harvard Method, Tested HonestlyAn honest review of Getting to Yes by Fisher, Ury and Patton: four rules, the BATNA idea, where it breaks, and how it compares with Chris Voss.
- How to Ask for a Raise (and Get a Real Answer)A step-by-step plan to ask for a raise: know your number, build options, make the ask, handle no, and keep the relationship strong.
- Negotiation Guide: How to Get a Better Deal Without Burning AnyoneA practical negotiation guide for salary, deals and everyday asks: know your walk-away, build options, read the feeling, and keep the relationship.
- What Is a BATNA, and How to Build One Before You NegotiateA BATNA is what you will really do if the deal fails. Learn to build a real one in steps, and why it is your true power in a salary, price or contract talk.
- You Can Negotiate Anything Review: Cohen's Tactics, TestedAn honest review of You Can Negotiate Anything by Herb Cohen: power, time and information, what still works, where the stories fail, and what to use.
- Negotiation Tricks and How to Answer Each One CalmlySix common negotiation tricks, from the extreme first offer to good cop and bad cop. See each one, name it without blame, and answer it in plain words.
- Never Split the Difference Review: What Works, What BreaksAn honest review of Chris Voss's Never Split the Difference: the five ideas that matter, three places it breaks, and how to use it without being a jerk.