I have recently been revisiting Robert Greene’s seminal work - 48 Laws of Power. In the next series of newsletters I will explore some rules that are applicable and cross over to both negotiation and leadership.

The Essence of Law 4

At its core, ‘always say less than necessary’ champions the power of restraint. In both leadership and negotiation, the fewer words you speak the more weight your words can carry. Silence can be a powerful tool - it invites others to fill the gap, and can maintain an aura of mystery and control.

Application to leadership

As a leader, it important not to ‘dip down’ to many unnecessary issues at the team level below you, and depending on the size of the organisation you lead, you need to empower other managers or team leaders to ‘step up’. Many leaders leverage this law by:

• Commanding Respect - being succinct demonstrates confidence and decisiveness, and hones listening skills.
• Maintaining Authority - we often find ourselves listening more intently to people who are reflective and say less- haven’t we all noticed this in meetings?
• Encouraging Reflection and Empowerment-depending on the size of the team or organisation you lead, pausing and not ‘dipping down’ unnecessarily, empowers other leaders to take accountability, solve problems and step up.

The Negotiators toolkit

This rule is almost uniformly applied by lawyers in negotiations. For example, when I ask defendants in a private caucus what they consider a claim may be worth, I can sometimes hear a pin drop! No criticism here - same applies to plaintiffs and to litigants more generally. It is understandably used an effective strategy- lawyers intuitively know that revealing too much can weaken a negotiating position, and they also know that despite the advice they may provide, their clients ultimately need to be ‘on board’. Lawyers understand well that less is often more, so that negotiating leverage can be maintained.

But, as always, there is nuance and complexity. For example, the orthodox application of this law in negotiation can conflict with another of Greene’s laws-Lead with Boldness. In certain matters, I have seen very experienced negotiators be particularly effective by being more immediately forthright at the outset. It depends on their personal style and their reading of the room. That is, sometimes a level of upfront bold strategic transparency (although less orthodox) can provide an advantage.

Final thoughts

The space between words often speaks louder than the words themselves.

‘Better to remain silent and be thought of as a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt’ - often attributed to either Mark Twain or Abraham Lincoln. I say it sounds more like Mark Twain!