CAL's Exclusive Speaker Articles

As FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss says in his viral masterclass on negotiation, all of us negotiate in some way every single day. Negotiation is the way by which we work with others, find win-wins and get things done, which can apply to everything from landing a reservation at a restaurant at the last minute to successfully closing a multi-million dollar deal within just a few meetings. There are many popular books on negotiation from which you can learn exactly what to do, but those strategies weaken when you also succumb to negotiation “don’ts.” These sneaky mistakes happen to the best of us, but must be avoided in order to have a successful negotiation and to get what you want out of the situation.

This can apply to negotiating salary, coming to terms for a business deal or partnership, hiring a contractor or any of your other business or financial needs. Everything is a negotiation. In fact, 70% of managers see an offer of a salary and benefits as a starting point that’s up for negotiation. Price and features are all relative, and others are more open to negotiation than you may believe. Avoid these mistakes to get more of what you want from a conversation.

I’d like to share a bit of magic. As 2020— a challenging and opportunity-charged year— wound down, I was blessed by a Zoom trialogue with Pixar co-founder and former President of Disney Animation Studios Ed Catmull, and master storyteller, composer and pianist Harold O’Neal. We explored storytelling, virtual reality, personal responsibility— and how the universe intervenes. Chance Encounters “Never leave serendipity to chance,” has been my maxim for years. Harold and Ed’s creative philosophies illustrate this notion, […]

If you haven’t read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, do so during this crisis. While we won’t endure 100 years of isolation—heaven forbid— reflect on Garcia Marquez’s procreation of people and places removed, isolated, from the worlds we know. Like most of us are living now.