What You Can Learn About Negotiating From Conan O'Brien
As I'm writing this a few days before publication, by the time you read this Conan O'Brien will have probably left The Tonight Show on NBC with a hefty severance package in the neighborhood of $30 million. (See this article from the Financial Times for details.) I'd leave for that amount and I'm guessing you would too. While it's unlikely that any of us are going to have the opportunity to negotiate for such a lovely parting gift, there is a lot you can learn from how Conan handled his exit.
As I said in my video book club post on Bargaining for Advantage, life is essentially a series of one negotiation after another. Some are high stakes, some are low but anytime you're trying to reach an agreement with a co-worker, your boss, your spouse or your kids, you're negotiating. (Why do I hear the voice of William Shatner in my head right now?) In setting up the deal he's getting from NBC, Conan demonstrated three basic approaches that all negotiators should keep in mind:
Know your strategy: Are you most concerned with getting a particular result, maintaining a relationship or somewhere between the two? Your answer will determine your strategy. Depending on where you are in the process, your strategy can shift. For years, Conan was concerned with maintaining his relationship with NBC so he could eventually get his dream job of Tonight Show host. In those years, he had a strategy of accommodating NBC's desires so he could be positioned to win the grand prize. When NBC wanted him to move the start time of his show to 12:05 am to accommodate the return of Jay Leno to the 11:35 slot, he'd had enough. At that point, he quit caring about his relationship with NBC and shifted to a competitive strategy to get the result of the biggest possible severance (and plenty of publicity to set him up for his next job).
Create leverage: Once he switched to a competitive strategy, O'Brien created a lot of leverage over NBC by releasing a public statement outlining why he would not move the Show to 12:05 am and making a lot of jokes at the expense of network execs. He moved to seize the high ground and create a groundswell of public support. Fueled by social media, NBC was quickly behind the eight ball with a lot of fans who were angry at the way Conan was being treated. The leverage O'Brien created compelled NBC to make a lucrative deal to make the whole problem go away.
Know your BATNA: BATNA stands for best alternative to a negotiated agreement. In other words, you need to know your walk away point and what you want to walk away. O'Brien's BATNA point was a shift out of the 11:35 pm slot. Since he was clear on that with himself, he knew when it was time to change his strategy and create the leverage.
What else do leaders need to keep in mind when they're negotiating? If you've been paying attention to the Conan/Jay drama, what's your take on how they've handled their negotiations? Any lessons to be learned that apply to those of us who don't have TV shows?
COMMENTS
Post a Comment
By using this Service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although GovExec does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Executive coach Scott Eblin’s goal is to help you succeed at the next level of leadership. Throughout the week, he’ll offer his take on the leadership lessons in the news and his advice on your most pressing leadership questions. A former government executive, Scott is a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and is the author of The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success.
I do not think that we can draw too much from the O'Brian/Leno issue. They had a large media voice, great power and leeway to use their positions to negotiate. They had NBC on the ropes. Had any of us tried that same tactic - publicly lambasting your employer and privately demanding huge payouts we would be history. While I am pleased they were able to exercise their freedom of speech and make their case to the public rarely will any of us have that same ability, position, or ultimate golden parachute. Knowing when to walk and walking away silently [and likely broke and unemployed]is perhaps the safest and only strategy for the average person.
Al mastello Posted Monday, January 25, 2010 8:11 AMI agree with the the guidelines written. The problem is that for most of us we don't get to decide what we want. Most of us need our jobs or other things we negoitiate for. Someone once told me that "the person who cares least wins." I think this is absolutely true. I am in a real estate negotiation right now and I'm taking a beating because I need to move. So really, although the buyer of my current house may not know it, I have no power whatsoever.
Jennifer Hartenstine Posted Monday, January 25, 2010 10:37 AMI think the previous comment is true when you have no leverage. However, most of us have some leverage, whether it is loyalty or allowing our bosses to save face in negotiations. In some cases, yuo are negotiating to help decision-makers to feel better about the situation. If they have to let you go, try to negotiate a better severance so you can leave "on good terms." You'll be surprised how many times this works. Unless you've completely blown it, your employer will likely want to leave the door open for you to come back rather than burn a bridge.
Jerry Caton Posted Monday, January 25, 2010 11:42 AMAs for making fun of NBC, they were just doing their jobs. I doubt that is a good tactic for most, but if you're on the outs with your boss, it is certainly a reasonable strategy to generate support for your side with other respected members of your organization.
I'd have to say this is bad advice for a public servant. I certainly don't have the platform for generating public support for my position and could NOT ridicule my employer like Conan did.
Creighton Goldsmith Posted Monday, January 25, 2010 11:46 AMIf Conan O'Brien had negotiated his Tonight Show contract properly, he would not have been caught in this mess in the first place. The $30 mil payoff is likely part of his contract. NBC has had the upper hand in this all along. Honestly, Conan is not exactly a role model "negotiator."
Vicki Posted Monday, January 25, 2010 12:15 PMIt's a major irony of life that those who make the most $$$ need it the least. Personally I didn't give a darn or paid attention to the whole Leno/Conan/NBC melodrama. I haven't watched those late night shows since Letterman in the mid 1990's when I was younger and stupid ( how many "Stupid Pet and Human tricks", and dopey "Top 10 Lists" can one take?). They're all a bunch of cry baby multi-millionaires with big egos, especially Letterman the big hypocrite philanderer who's turned into a bitter and unfunny old man lately. These guys got the nerve to make fun of someone like Sarah Palin. NBC and Jeff Zucker also got what they deserved. If any of us had just a minor fraction of the severance package that O'Brien got from NBC, we would not need to work anymore.
Freedom Czar Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 11:31 AM