My availability to commit to a permanent job this summer means I won’t be haunting boat landings, looking for Eurasian Milfoil, Zebra Mussels, and invasive tourists. To reinforce our somewhat precarious financial position, threatened by possible reductions in Social Security pensions and Medicare, I look for any opportunity to earn a few bucks for the piggy bank. So when offered the chance to work a couple of days each week while I can, I jumped on it. The “Hoot” is back in customer service on Friday and Saturday at the Ace Hardware store in the Cook County Home Center. Expect a few stories later.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve connected with a bunch of familiar faces at the Home Center. Two conversations, one directly and the other indirectly, were relevant to my work here at the Journal.
The first conversation was with a retired educator who lives nearby. Based on the often opinionated typing that comes from my fingertips, he asked me if I’d had people who would disagree with me prowling around the house. I assured him that we don’t and that I get more positive feedback than negative.
The second conversation was with my friend who bought a section of land in the county’s east end from us a quarter century ago. He was in the store on my first day back, and we bantered back and forth. On his next visit, he said, “I owe you an apology for what I said last time I was here.” He was concerned I’d been offended by a comment he’d made.
I don’t remember what he said; it had been a week or two since that day, so I assured him I wasn’t offended and asked him if he could repeat it. He demurred, and I told him not to worry; I obviously wasn’t hurt or pissed off.
Whether putting my words out there as a corporate puke, a political hack, or an ink-stained editor/writer, my skin has achieved the thickness of a Kevlar vest. Insults that scar lesser mortals just seem to tickle my funny bone. Feelings? What Feelings? I’m not one of those MAGA types getting pissed off at every little slight or the actions of a particular group.
So, on to the art of negotiation, something that is as much a part of being alive as oxygen and water. I recall negotiating with one of our daughters to get her more committed to getting better grades in school. “I’m not as smart as my sisters,” she said. I assured her I didn’t believe that, but they did homework and she rarely did.
Her response was classic negotiating while defending the homework boycott. “I spend six hours a day doing work at school. Do you expect me to do more at home?” Well, yes.
So we negotiated. If you’ve had kids, you know that every day involves multiple negotiations. If you clean up your room, I’ll do something you want.
Business leadership also involves negotiations all the time. One negotiates with vendors, customers, banks, and employees every day, and negotiations are even more intense when buying or selling a business.
As a primarily self-taught corporate guy, I read many books about business leadership and negotiations. My reading began with Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and every issue of Success Magazine.
To paraphrase Jimmy Buffet in his great song “Son of a Son of a Sailor,” I read dozens and dozens of books written by and about business heroes and crooks, and I learned much from all of their styles.
I even read “The Art of the Deal” by Donald Trump and Tony Schwartz when it was published in 1988. At the time, Trump’s political dreams weren’t well known. The book offers a glimpse into Trump’s hardball business philosophy and deal-making strategies. It presents an aggressive approach to business, emphasizing thinking big, leveraging power, relentless self-promotion, and a willingness to fight for what you want. My business style wasn’t his, but his book helped me successfully cope with the type of people who adopted its premise in hundreds if not thousands of deal-making adventures I’ve been on.
Deal-making and negotiating in business, politics, and family life should ensure that both parties get what they want. One of our vendors back in the day, the Burlington Northern Railroad, had a Vice President who stressed the need with his sales and marketing underlings that every negotiation should provide a “Win/Win” outcome.
When we met with BN’s marketing guys, usually over a three martini lunch, that silly “Win/ Win” slogan of corporate propaganda provided much sarcastic banter.
I see its logic now that I’m in my twilight years.
