The Transformative Negotiator: Revised & Updated
Changing the Way We Come to Agreement
Second Edition
Michele Huff, JD
Changing the Way We Come to Agreement
Second Edition
Michele Huff, JD
Changing the Way We Come to Agreement
Second Edition
Michele Huff, JD
Description
In this updated Second Edition of The Transformative Negotiator, Michèle Huff explores how to change the way people come to agreement—from the inside out. Becoming a transformative negotiator requires moving from a self-oriented, transactional focus to a no-self-oriented, spiritual one. Practicing transformative negotiation still requires us to expose gaps in language, culture, knowledge, race, gender, and anything else that can be a barrier to success, but embraces empathy and compassion as critical elements. ingredients.
The author looks at how to develop compassion in the real world, where oppositional thinking (us vs. them, in-group vs. out-group) all too often permeates negotiations and interactions in general. This new edition includes three new chapters at the end of the book that explore ways to cultivate compassion for people who may look different, speak differently, act differently, and/or hold different views from us. The author's goal is to help you bring present-moment, non-judgmental awareness to the root causes of extremism; counter that extremist energy with compassion; and learn how to recognize and connect with others as human beings.
BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Unhooked Books
Publication date: May 6, 2025
Binding: Paperback
ISBN (print): 9781950057443
ISBN (e-book): 9781950057450
Author: Michèle Huff, JD
The Author
Michèle Huff is a transactional lawyer who has negotiated on behalf of companies, including Oracle Corporation, Sun Microsystems, and Canal+, higher education institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley and University of New Mexico, and on behalf of hundreds of individual clients, including artists, authors, entrepreneurs, and engineers.
She is currently the Executive Director of the Office of Business Contracts and Brand Protection at the University of California, Berkeley, where she negotiates revenue-generating contracts, licenses copyrights and trademarks, protects the campus brand, and manages a team of legal professionals.
For nine years, she served as University of New Mexico’s senior lawyer for research, technology, and intellectual property where she negotiated research contracts with academic institutions, government agencies, and industry partners. Prior to that, Michèle was the managing partner of the Archer Law Group, LLC. She began her career at Sun Microsystems and co-founded a Silicon Valley software start-up.
Michèle conducted a session for UC Berkeley staff entitled: What Lies Beyond “Win-Win” Negotiations: How to Practice transformative Negotiations at the Next Opportunity at Work (NOW) conference in 2019. She has taught intellectual property and licensing at the UNM School of Law and led negotiation workshops for local community foundations and technology venture associations in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She developed a course on Transformative Negotiation, which she delivered to UNM's Mediation Certification program and Employee Organizational Development group. She has presented to Human Resources professionals (SHRM NM annual meeting), mediators (NM ADR Symposium and NM Mediation Association), and entrepreneurs (National Business Incubator Association and Creative Startups Accelerator).
Ms. Huff was born and raised in New York City, received her BA from Colorado College and her JD, magna cum laude, from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law-Arizona State University. She became a member of the California Bar in 1985.
Follow her at http://www.michelehuff.com.
Table of Contents
17. Keep Deadlines at Bay
18. Build Trust
19. Trust Your Gut
20. Apply Leverage
21. Address Power Imbalances
22. Practice Humility
23. Manage Anger
24. Be Patient
25. Influence by Educating
26. Persevere
27. Leave the Past Behind
28. Embrace the Present; Move into the Future
29. Transformation
30. Taking and Giving Perspective
31. Moral Reframing
32. Practice Humanizing
1. Really Listen
2. Say It Clearly, without Charge
3. Check Assumptions and Expectations
4. Know Thyself—and Much More
5. Ask Why You Are Negotiating
6. Create Optimal Conditions
7. Do It in Person
8. Consider Language and Culture
9. Observe the Gender Gap
10. Set Realistic Goals
11. Uncover Needs
12. Construct and Reconstruct Frames
13. Validate Opposing Views
14. Check Your Perspective
15. Adjust Your Posture
16. Find Your Anchors
Praise for the Transformative Negotiator
“This book should be read. At the end of the day, we are all negotiators. Michele Huff has been an anchor at UC Berkeley in this area for a long time, and brings so much relevant experience beyond that. I especially appreciated the “Try This” boxes and the chapters on Validating Opposing Views and on Moral Reframing. Have at it.”
“The skills covered in this precise volume will “transform” both negotiated outcomes and the participants themselves. Accomplished negotiator and attorney Michèle Huff draws from Buddhist concepts of mindfulness, her personal business experiences, and examples ranging from Nelson Mandela, Henry Kissinger, and the Dalai Lama to explain core techniques that work as well as those that do not. Simple exercises throughout illustrate key concepts readers can make their own. From awareness of physical aspects such as posture and breathing, to controlling anger, and the sophisticated practice of humility, these techniques will prove invaluable any time negotiation partners need to come to agreement and in everyday life.”
CEO Santa Fe Business Incubator, former Board Chair National Business Incubation Association
“The Transformative Negotiator is a beautifully written meditation on the art of human interaction. Huff writes from the heart, not just the head. The book is easy to read, with practical advice and an engaging wide range of stories about how to come to agreement.”
bestselling author of Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice, and Writing Down the Bones, Wild Mind, and The True Secret of Writing
“Huff layers MBA level negotiation theory, lifelong experience, cross-cultural negotiation and practice of deeper wisdom in a series of clearly explained and immensely pragmatic examples. The Transformative Negotiator stresses the brain/body connection, our interdependence as human beings, as well as meditation techniques that lead to successful outcomes. It is a book you want to have handy in the midst of any negotiation from teenage kids to members of the board.”
Speaker, Silicon Valley Startup Advisor, Technology Evangelist and author of the blog www.miko.com
“A concise and pleasurable read, The Transformative Negotiator takes the well-known basic tenets of negotiation and goes beyond to showcase the importance of connection in successful negotiations. Drawing on historical examples and her personal experience, Huff creates a book that, along with a sprinkling of realistic exercises throughout, will push your awareness of self and your ability to negotiate successfully to the next level.”
author, Job Moves: 9 Steps for Making Progress in Your Career, and Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Education, Clayton Christensen Institute, named one of the 100 most important people in the advancement of the use of technology in education by Tech & Learning magazine