Negotiator Magazine published a brilliant Top 10 list covering how to avoid ethical compromise in a negotiation (see our Sources page for link). We are directly quoting the list:
TOP TEN Negotiation Ethics List
TOP TEN Negotiation Ethics List
- Know what is not negotiable.
- Be honest. In a negotiation, whenever you are ethical and honest even though it costs you something, you gain points. If a counterpart makes an invoice error that is to your advantage and you inform him of it, that costs you something--but it also earns you respect.
- Keep your promises. In your eagerness to put a deal together, you may sometimes make promises and concessions you hadn't planned to make. You demonstrate your ethics when you fulfill those promises long after the desire to do so has left you.
- Have multiple options. Going into a negotiation with multiple options will help both you and your counterpart achieve your goals. If someone proposes an option you feel is unethical, you will be ready with another, ethical option for accomplishing the same goal.
- Be willing to say "no." Some negotiators are quite comfortable looking a counterpart in the eye and saying "no" when they feel something is not right.
- Be familiar with the law. Ignorance of the law is not a good excuse for unethical behavior. When in doubt about the law governing some aspect of your negotiation, check it out.
- Go with your gut.
- Practice the concept of "no surprises." Making sure that a negotiation does not contain any negative surprises will reduce the chances of an ethical lapse.
- Follow the Platinum Rule. The Golden Rule tells us to treat people the way we would like to be treated. Dr. Tony Alessandra's The Platinum Rule™ tells us to treat people the way they want to be treated. Caring about your counterparts enough to treat them the way they want to be treated helps build long-term relationships based on ethics and trust.
- Be willing to walk away from a deal. When it comes to effective negotiations, remember, some of the best deals you will ever make are the ones you did not make. All of us have contemplated buying something from an individual, or entering into a business relationship with a company, and just getting a gut feeling that we should say "no." So we have walked away from the deal. Later, when we heard negative information about this individual or company, the information reinforced the fact that we had made a great decision.
*Sources of all content found on Sources page.