{"id":12918,"date":"2021-07-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotwork.com\/nz\/blog-nz\/internal-alignment-or-iceberg\/"},"modified":"2021-07-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T00:00:00","slug":"internal-alignment-or-iceberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotwork.com\/nz\/blog-nz\/2021\/internal-alignment-or-iceberg\/","title":{"rendered":"Internal alignment or iceberg?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This past week, a rare news headline appeared out of Washington, D.C.: \u201cA Deal With Bipartisan Support.\u201d Before you run off, this post is not a political commentary. Rather, the headline got me thinking about how we create internal alignment in business. After all, gaining internal alignment in negotiations is a very common challenge. Most people don\u2019t do it effectively, and lack of alignment can become an iceberg that sinks a deal. Surely, if politicians can figure out alignment\u00a0occasionally<\/em>, then we in business can do it with much greater frequency and success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Amazon.com, there are more than 30,000 books that discuss business relationships \u2014 including Dale Carnegie\u2019s\u00a0How to Win Friends & Influence People<\/em>, published in 1936. Suffice it to say, the challenges of managing business relationships are nothing new. Carnegie wrote something that can hold the key to unlocking the internal alignment issue: \u201cYou can gain more influence by being interested in the other side for 10 minutes than by trying to get them interested in you for 10 months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oftentimes, internal alignment breaks down because we rarely consider the needs of the other person\u00a0beforehand<\/em>. Instead, we either don\u2019t take the other person into consideration to begin with or we just try to sell them on a deal after the fact. However, if you take Carnegie\u2019s suggestion to heart, learning what\u2019s important to the stakeholder before you finalize your plan and go into a negotiation, you\u2019ll find dealing with stakeholders throughout the process much easier. It will also help you develop a strategy that takes the stakeholder\u2019s position into account. It\u2019s basic needs analysis done with an internal focus.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve done the internal needs analysis, come back to each of your stakeholders to start the alignment process. This process is not about selling the deal at the end, but rather gaining support from the start. When you approach the stakeholder for support, here\u2019s what you need to bring to the table:<\/p>\n