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5 minute chat with Pavel Novák

Pavel Novák is a negotiation trainer.

1) When we spoke last time, you said you are not a coach but rather a trainer. And it seemed to matter to you. Why?

As a trainer, I lead people from developing particular thought structures into actively implementing new behavioral patterns –skill acquisition.  That, typically, is something a coach would not do.  To give you an example, 99.9% of people I train do not know how to prepare for a negotiation effectively.  They know they should prepare, but what they prepare does not create much guidance or clarity.  So if negotiation veers off their prepared track, they feel naked.  And the risk of agreeing to something they should refuse dramatically increases.  As a trainer, I offer certain thinking patterns which top negotiators use.  Why reinvent the wheel?  But head knowledge is not enough.  Hands-on practice and immediate feedback are essential.  We train and train again so clients can enact the techniques in many contexts.  Together, we effect concrete behavioral change.

2) How did you get to focus on negotiation only? What´s your personal path to what you do?

Through many years of experience, I have found that the art of negotiation is both complex enough to challenge me as a trainer and practical enough to be a clearly measurable exercise.  Speak to any serious trainer, and he will be concerned primarily about the impact of training courses.  When I ask participants how the training helped them, they are able to quantify the impact.  That´s what I´m after.  The fact that I do not need to „sell“ethe training after it´s over feels great.  The results are there for everybody to see. 

3) You said you were going to study negotiation further. Could you tell us more?

Sure.  In June, I´m attending the Programme on Negotiation at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, one of the most advanced and innovative institutions of its kind.  I can´t wait.  I chose this course because professor Tim Cullen, the programme director, is one of the world‘s leading negotiation experts.  This is a wonderful opportunity to hone my skills even further through conversation and sparring with other experts.  With the latest cutting-edge techniques, I will bring even more value to my clients. 

4) Is there a single book you´d recommend as worth reading?

Definitely.  The classic bestseller Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury is a must.  If you read only one book on negotiation, this is the one.  And since I was studying with Bruce Patton, the coeditor of Getting to Yes, at the Harvard Program on Negotiation, I highly recommend another great read with Patton’s influence, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. It’s worth every minute. Enjoy.