"The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been." - Dr. Henry Kissinger
Last week I was fortunate to be part of a conversation between Dr. Henry Kissinger and Rabbi Peter Rubinstein. Dr. Kissinger shared his insight and knowledge that he acquired during his long and esteemed career, which is still happening.
I found Dr. Kissinger's comments on negotiation extremely interesting. Some of my favorite take-aways:
- A great negotiator remembers history ... like the fact that Russia was founded in Kiev, and that Kiev remained Russian for hundreds of years.
- A great negotiator understands the goals of his counterpart. Putin is rebuilding a broken empire with considerable approval from the Russian population.
- Executive conference calls don't work. Too many people expect their boss to win.
- China thinks of itself as a thousand years old civilization, not a country.
- Never lose your temper or show that you are under time constraints.
- Understand your opponents' mindset. Know what their end goal is.
- The US tries to solve problems quickly. China's leadership believes not all problems have solutions, but only lead to more problems. Therefore, China is in no hurry to take action. They just monitor how things develop over a few hundred years.
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