Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha
Always negotiate
the future. Tomorrow is the future. The future is where you are headed which is
why the future should always be the focus of your negotiations. The past is
gone and should not be part of the negotiations. Joseph negotiated the future
in his negotiations with Pharaoh. Daniel negotiated the future.
Negotiating Skills
– Worth and Value
Esau and Rachel
had no negotiating skills which explain why they always negotiated bread and
not divine destinies. Their lack of self-control over bread deprived them of
the ability to negotiate from a position of power. No matter how famished Esau
was, he should have exercised self-control when he realized what Jacob aimed
for – a birthright in exchange for a pot of stew – that was enough wake up call
to stall negotiations. But Esau in addition to lacking self-control had
absolutely no idea of who he was – the first born; and therefore did not know
his worth and value as well as that of the birthright. He therefore traded what
was of divine value and worth for temporary satisfaction. He repeated the same
absolute lack of value and worth in his second negotiations with Jacob. Rather
than refuse the gifts as well as insist on providing protection and security
for Jacob (these actions would have given Esau an edge over Jacob as they would
have kept Jacob in his place, in fear of Esau and never daring to be first
born), Esau capitulated to Jacob’s superior argument and became indebted to
Jacob. If only Esau knew his worth and value, that Jacob was afraid of him and
his men and that Jacob’s life depended on his generosity. But Esau had no idea
of who he was and his worth and his value. This infers that any negotiator
worth his or her salt should know his or her value and worth or the value and
worth of what s/he holds as bargaining chips. That sense of value and worth
will be a constant reminder not to trade in value and worth for temporary
relief or satisfaction. Also, a seasoned or skilled negotiator should always
exercise self control so as not to get carried away by the temporary relief
that may appear to be the solution in the heat of negotiations but is indeed no
solution as Esau learnt after trading in his birthright for a pot of stew and
as Rachel probably learnt after trading in her husband and her right of
intimacy with him that night for mandrakes.
