The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes

In thirty years of negotiation work, William Ury has learned that the most essential skill in negotiating and resolving conflicts is the one the vast majority of us have the most difficulty mastering: the ability to say “no.” At the heart of the difficulty in saying no is the tension between exercising your power and tending to your relationship—and the secret to saying no without destroying relationships is learning “the art of the positive no.” It is a three-step process that can profoundly transform the way we do business by enabling us to say yes to what counts – our own needs, values, and priorities. Whether one needs to say no to a colleague, employee, CEO, supplier or customer, you can learn to say no and still reach agreement, produce results, and preserve relationships.

Speaker Details

William Ury is director of the Global Negotiation Project at Harvard, co-founder of the International Negotiation Network (with former President Jimmy Carter), and co-author of the five million copy bestseller, Getting to Yes. He is a world-renowned negotiator and mediator who has taught negotiation to tens of thousands of corporate executives, labor leaders, diplomats, and military officers around the world. He has worked to end conflicts all over the world from strikes in Kentucky coal mines to ethnic wars in the Middle East, and has recently co-founded a “town hall” in cyberspace, where national leaders can meet to discuss global problems such as issues of climate change, terrorism, and trade disputes.

Date:
Speakers:
William Ury
Affiliation:
Director of the Global Negotiation Project, Harvard
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