By: Ronald M. Shapiro, co-founder and chairman at SNI
As I reflect back on my opportunity to impact the participants of a Global Executives program known as EDGE, I wanted to share some background on the program, what my role was, and a participant’s testimonial on how The Power of Nice has enhanced his negotiation skills.
What is EDGE?
EDGE stands for Baltimore Emerging & Developing Global Executives. It is a program that was started in September of this past year by the World Trade Center Institute (WTCI). For those of you who are not familiar with WTCI, it is a non-profit, 501 C3 organization that helps to educate, support and connect Maryland companies to opportunities around the world.
What was it about the EDGE program that intrigued you?
As a teacher, I am always intrigued by the opportunity to interact and train business professionals on the art of negotiation, but the EDGE program, in particular, stuck out to me. It was a program that I knew I could have a profound impact on the participants.
The goal of the EDGE program is to enhance each participant’s business acumen and to increase Baltimore’s international competitiveness. The program’s duration lasts about 10 months, which includes an off-site retreat, multi-cultural training, meetings with c-level executives, and seven half-day sessions on topics of leadership and global business importance. This is where I came in. WTCI invited me to present at one of the EDGE program’s training sessions called the Art & Science of Global Negotiation.
With over 50 years of experience negotiating deals in similar industries to those of the participants, I was able to draw on my experiences and illustrate real-life negotiation examples. By relating these examples to the participants’ world, they are better able to connect the negotiation principles they have learned to experiences they have had, bringing new light to the principles presented in the program.
Who were the participants in the EDGE program?
The participants were business professionals from a variety of different industries. These business professionals came from companies such as Under Armour, Legg Mason, Northrop Grumman, Proctor & Gamble, TESSCO Technologies, and T. Rowe Price. Each participant had 10+ years of experience within their defined industry.
By having an experienced, diverse group of less than twenty participants, I was able to focus on problems that each individual was facing and customize scenarios to replicate real-life negotiations. Through an interactive presentation that included live negotiations, each participant was able to use the negotiation principles presented and apply them in a live simulation – a key to maximizing impact.
Reflecting on your experience with the EDGE program, how impactful was your presentation?
I have taught tens of thousands of business professionals throughout the world – and the reason I continue to teach is because of the impact these programs have upon the participants. Below is a quote from Perry Menzies of Terminal Corporation, a participant in the EDGE program, as he reflected on his experience.
“For me, some of the key takeaways from the EDGE program came from the powerful session on Global Negotiation presented by Ron Shapiro. This session was very interactive and allowed participants to engage in a mock negotiation situation. This proved to be incredibly well-timed as Terminal Corporation was going through annual rate negotiations as well as quoting new business in an effort to diversify into more inelastic cargoes. Using knowledge from this seminar we were able to successfully negotiate all rate increases as well as negotiate new business that we are confident will minimize the exposure we previously had in handling mainly forest products…” – Perry Menzies, Terminal Corp.
As exemplified by Perry’s testimonial, The Power of Nice is a program that brings real results to real people and can positively impact the negotiation skills of professionals in all industries.
