Author: wmorrisoz

As we slowly start to recover from the pandemic, we’re seeing business activity pick up, including a number of partnerships, mergers and acquisitions. I’ve been somewhat surprised by the amount of SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) that in turn are driving more companies to consider acquisition offers as a vehicle to a public stock exchange listing. All of this activity has heightened the need for business leaders to hone negotiation skills in order to achieve successful outcomes that deliver value for all stakeholders.

When conducting business negotiations, I’ve always believed that the best deal is a fair one that is advantageous to both parties.  In its most simple form, this means that both sides need to be reasonable and willing to compromise to ensure the deal works for each party. When preparing for such a negotiation, there are three criteria that must be clearly understood:

• • The optimal deal that provides the most desired outcome, while still being reasonable for the other side;
  • The parameters that you’re willing to compromise on or give up in order to reach a deal;
  • The point at which you will walk away from the deal and the associated “BATNA” – best alternative to negotiated agreement.

The concept of both sides achieving an acceptable outcome is also called a “Win-Win” and there have been many articles and books that have provided guidance in this area.  Here is a great article that outlines an approach to successful win-win negotiations.  It suggests that the starting point is to separate people from the problem, then focus on interests, seek options that provide mutual gain,  use objective criteria to evaluate the options, and to know your BATNA. In addition to a concise description of each of these topic, the article also provides some useful tips.

Having a BATNA is key to ensuring you can walk away from a negotiation that simply isn’t going to work. This article, from several years ago, provides a detailed explanation of BATNAs as well as a structured approach to determining your BATNA.  

As the business environment ramps back up, so will your need to engage in various negotiations. Staying true to your principles, and remaining fair and reasonable, will enhance the likelihood of achieving successful outcomes. 

Given the times we are currently living in and the added stress of COVID-19, protests and elections, it is more important than ever to be kind to and look after the people in your life – your family, your colleagues and your employees. The concept of “mateship” has a long history in Australia and developed initially due to the hardships of survival in a very rugged land, and then was reinforced through the comradery of the military during a number of wars. Mateship is still alive and well as articulated in this article from a few years ago.  

In my career I’ve tried to apply a number of principles to taking care of the people I worked with as outlined below:

• • Set very clear expectations regarding behavior, performance and targets;
  • Effectively and regularly communicate on how the team and individuals are performing as well as the overall status and health of the business;
  • Build a sense of shared purpose and find opportunities to strengthen team spirit and comradery;
  • Look after the individuals who are part of your team – look for opportunities to help them develop and advance in their career;
  • Appropriately reward the team (as a collective) and individuals for their achievements and be clear as to why they are receiving the rewards and the impact they are driving;
  • Remember to also find small aspects of their performance to praise and if some aspect of a person’s performance is lacking, redirect early rather than waiting for it to become a major issue;
  • Set very clear boundaries that relate to how the team and individuals will be treated, particularly with respect to people in power positions such as investors, board members and customers.

In addition, the current situation calls for more:

• • Informally check in with people to not only inquire about work-related issues, but also each individual’s mental health, the well-being of their family and loved ones, and where appropriate, to provide reassurance and more meaningful support;
  • Be compassionate, understanding and flexible with how employees can achieve work goals while taking care of their own personal and family needs;
  • Compassion will be particularly necessary if during these tough times, you have to make hard business decisions resulting in downsizing of either facilities or staff – communicate clearly, recognize people will be emotional, look after those affected as well as those who are not impacted, and above all ensure everyone is treated with respect and dignity. 

Here is another article that describes some ways to show you care.

While looking out for your mates, also remember to take care of yourself – we’re all facing an emotional ride that will last for quite some time.  Stay safe and healthy!

These are definitely unprecedented times for the vast majority of us, I suspect only equaled during previous world-wide catastrophes and world wars that occurred several decades ago. Particularly for entrepreneurs, it can be a tough and mentally exhausting period as you strive to keep the business afloat, ensure employees and customers are safe and maintain the confidence and morale of all stakeholders.

I reread a great blog on perseverance strategies told through the experiences of seasoned entrepreneurs.  The high points outlined are:

1. Take the punches.
2. Mimic success.
3. Lead confidently and think big.
4. Influence your outcome.
5. If entrepreneurship was easy, everyone would do it.

These are totally relevant in today’s world, and I resonated with them as I thought about my own experiences in multiple startups, and in particular, as the CEO of a startup that we founded just before the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/2008. In my book, “Fair Dinkum Business”, I reserved the last chapter to discuss perseverance using the Aussie saying, “No worries mate, she’ll be right!” I had to take many punches from multiple stakeholders, do the “fake it until you make it” dance, think laterally when we ran into roadblocks, and do everything I could to ensure we had a successful outcome.

In the current situation, I believe even more is required if an entrepreneur, their company and all stakeholders are to survive and maybe come through stronger than before. I was introduced to this Tiny Survival Guide from the Trauma Stewardship Institute by my wife, who is a clinical social worker. I wasn’t aware of it as I battled through my own issues as a startup CEO, but I was unknowingly incorporating some of the suggestions into my daily routine, including the following:

• Protect your mornings – I find this to be a great time for reflection and meditation, looking at the joys or successes recently experienced and looking forward to what you plan to accomplish in the coming days.
• Nurture gratitude – the morning meditation was also a time for me to express my gratitude for the positive influences in my life and to reaffirm my belief in maintaining a positive attitude.
• Cultivate relationships – these are extremely important in trying times and including as many healthy mentors as you can find can be particularly helpful. 
• Be Active – some of my best thinking and plans of action came when I was mindfully active – hiking, biking, paddle boarding etc. For some reason, these activities that combine effort and concentration, open my mind to new possibilities. 
• Foster humility and extend grace – I use the Aussie saying, “Don’t have tickets on yourself”, to discuss this in my book. I firmly believe humble, servant leadership is key to delivering long-term value in any company.
• Simplify – times like these can be overwhelming, and it can be easy to over-think everything that is wrong with the world. I believe it’s necessary to narrow our thinking to what is important, relevant to our business success or immediate community well-being, and that we can influence or control. Everything else is just noise.
• Be realistic and compassionate – I address this in the book under “Look out for your mates”. Be present, listen to others, protect your colleagues and employees, enable their success, and ensure they are realistically rewarded.
• Finally, laugh – humor lifts spirits, builds morale, helps us to stay positive and to remember that no matter how bad the situation seems now, everything will be alright in the end. No worries mate!

We are certainly living in interesting times and my thoughts and prayers reach out to those on the front line in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic – the medical staff, emergency workers, first responders, the researchers working to develop a vaccine or cure and so many more.  

It is also a time for true leadership at Federal, State and Local governments, government agencies, non-profits and business.  We’re all seeing good, mediocre and bad examples of leadership during this time.  So, what can leaders do to step up?

I’ve never dealt with a situation like the one facing us today,  but I was a business leader in Australia (with global operations, including in China and Asia) during the economic downtown in 2001, the Avian Flu and SARS in 2003, and was leading a young startup during the global financial crisis of 2007-2008.  During any crisis, I believe the following principles are important:

• Communicate clearly and often to your stakeholders. Be as open as possible and clearly state what is known and what is unknown, without embellishment, or trying to diminish the real situation.
• Get the best advice possible and be willing to listen carefully to experts and absorb the information they can provide in order to make the best possible decisions on how to deal with the crisis.
• If you must take tough actions in order to produce the best outcome for the greatest number of people or stakeholders, do so decisively, quickly and all at once (rather than multiple smaller actions over time). Again, clearly communicate the rationale, outline the specifics of the actions you’re taking and the associated impact.  Treat affected people compassionately and do as much as possible to help them through the difficulties they undoubtedly will encounter.
• Never lie or mislead people even if that might ease your own situation – any relief will be temporary at best, it will likely lead to great difficulties, and you will lose the trust of the very people you will need to make it through the crisis.
• Learn from the situation – understand what lead up to it, identify how you could have anticipated or recognized the situation more quickly, and determine if and how you could have better responded to the situation.
• Never waste a crisis – work with your team and stakeholders to determine how to make the business more resilient in future and what changes will allow you to prosper or at least make the best of the current situation. Review intelligence gathering, decision making, operational processes and general practices to identify ways to improve effectiveness and efficiency.

As we start the new year, this is the time to reflect on your career progress and decide what career-oriented resolutions you’d like to pursue.  A number of people will be assessing their career trajectory or perhaps toying with the idea of launching a new business, product or service, or perhaps pursuing a more challenging role. 

If this is the case, I encourage you to “Have a Go” as outlined in Chapter 2 of “Fair Dinkum Business”.  Of course, first think through your risk tolerance, evaluate risk/reward and identify various outcomes including the worst case scenario to ensure you are fully prepared once you make the leap.

Others may have already made the move and are fully engaged on building a new business, product or service offering.  In this case, why not “Go Big or Go Home”!  After all if it’s a great idea, you’ll want to fully capitalize on it before other entrepreneurs or larger companies also decide it’s an opportunity worth pursuing.

If you need further encouragement, think about the time when you’re in the latter stages of your career or working life.  If at that time, you reflect and you haven’t take calculated risks and actively pursue attractive opportunities, will you regret it?  

Of course there may be life circumstances that prevent you from pursuing your dreams – at this time.  If that’s the case, consider what it would take to put yourself in a better position and actively work to alleviate your current circumstances.