Corporate counsel and author Michael Leathes, writes for Horizons on the question of an international negotiation initiative and whether there should be one
While working on the manuscript for my book published last year - Negotiation: Things Corporate Counsel need to know but were not taught – Wolters Kluwer, 2017 - I submitted a draft to an eclectic peer group from all around the world to gauge whether I was on the right track. The group comprised corporate counsel, business people, negotiation and mediation scholars and trainers, practitioners, neuroscientists, culturologists and lawyers. Terrific ideas, suggestions, critique, support and challenges came in. They greatly influenced my thinking and writing.
One idea that made its way into the book, indeed Michael McIlwrath of General Electric endorsed it in his Foreword, is the need for an international negotiation initiative.
The initial proposition for an international negotiation initiative is that it would:
This seed, propagated by a small and diverse group of stakeholders, has now begun to germinate. For example, the International Association for Conflict Management has agreed to schedule a session at its Annual Meeting in Philadelphia PA on July 8-11, 2018 to consider the question: Is it time for an International Negotiation Initiative? Led by some leading international negotiation experts, the session will explore the INI’s potential value, attract ideas and proposals, improve the concept and generate traction.
The INI website includes a downloadable version of the latest INI Concept Paper and enables you to contribute your thoughts via the contact button. Or feel free to reach me via www.michaelleathes.com and I will connect you to the INI dialogue.
In association with Huthwaite International and other supporters, the International Negotiation Initiative concept is evolving. It could travel far and enrich the practice of negotiation. You can help shape it. You are invited, nay urged, to influence this conversation.
Michael Leathes
Negotiation: Things Corporate Counsel need to know but were not taught – Wolters Kluwer, 2017