Photo Credit: smh.com.au
Like many Australians, I made sure I was in front the TV to watch Jess Fox’s gold medal performance last week in the C-1 Canoe Slalom at the Tokyo Olympics.
Jess is from a canoe and kayak paddling family – her parents are both Olympians in the sport, her mother is her coach, her father, Richard, was previously Australia’s Head Coach and is a Channel 7 commentator in these Olympics Games.
It was an absolute joy to hear Richard commentate on his daughter’s canoe race. His emotion was a rollercoaster ride that I shared.
After the race, Richard was talking about Jess’s preparation. He said that she had been under a lot of pressure but hadn’t let herself become stressed.
As a negotiator, this comment really stood out for me. In negotiations, just like in the Olympics, there’s nothing wrong with pressure but there is something wrong with stress.
According to HBR (Nicholas Petrie, 16/03/2017), pressure is not stress, but “the former is converted to the latter when you add one ingredient: rumination, the tendency to keep rethinking past or future events, while attaching negative emotion to those thoughts”.
It can be too easy to dwell on past negotiations or confrontations that have ended poorly. While it’s okay to feel under pressure to perform well, taking stress into a negotiation means you aren’t listening well to the other party, you are closed off to creative solutions, and you are too focussed on how you might be perceived.
Before a negotiation it’s important to prime yourself. Put things in perspective, think about past successes, let go of past failures and learn to control your reaction to pressure.
These steps will prepare you better for negotiation and, if you ever get the chance, Olympic Gold.