Station 4 Negotiation

How do you protect what your company stands for – when that can't be written into a contract?

This week, Gene dives into Ben & Jerry's Unilever deal – and Jerry's recent exit from the company – to unpack one of the toughest challenges in negotiation: defending values when profit and principle collide.

From the ice cream brand's fight to preserve its social mission to the legal and strategic...

The recent drug-pricing clash between Pfizer and the Trump administration wasn't just another policy fight – it was a huge negotiation in US healthcare.

This was a high-wire act: a pharmaceutical giant under intense political pressure, a White House eager for a headline win, and billions of dollars on the line. This week on S4N, Gene breaks down how Pfizer held its ground, built quiet alliances, and seized...

What if the key to breaking a business deal deadlock isn't narrowing the focus – but making the problem bigger?

This week on S4N, Gene explores the counterintuitive strategy of "enlarging the problem," drawn from the book Swap: A Secret History of the New Cold War by Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson. With stories from U.S. hostage negotiator Roger Carstens, Gene shows how widening the frame of a stalled co...

This week on S4N, Gene breaks down one of the most daring corporate maneuvers in recent memory: Nvidia's bold push into the Chinese tech market under the shadow of U.S. export controls.

Through the lens of The Art of War and real-world strategy, Gene returns to our friend from episode 40, Jensen Huang, to explore how Huang played a complex, high-level game – while balancing political risk, regulatory firepower, and a negotiation co...

One question that comes up time and again when people start learning negotiation is: okay, but how do I negotiate my own salary?

This week on S4N, Gene takes a close look at that question through the lens of a well-known Hollywood standoff with surprisingly relevant lessons for today's professionals: the salary dispute that led to Suzanne Somers' abrupt exit from the iconic sitcom Three's Company. 

This episode explores what went w...

This week on S4N, Gene introduces you to media mogul family the Redstones (of Paramount) and breaks down the modern mantra of "FAFO" (let's just say, "Fool Around and Find Out") to find the point when pushing goes from good to too far.

He also dives into the ins and outs of mediation: when it can rescue a negotiation, why people misuse it, and the key questions to...

We hear so much about AI replacing jobs – but, ironically, the best lesson on becoming indispensable comes from an artificial intelligence executive himself.

This week on S4N, Gene zooms in on the meteoric rise of Nvidia and its CEO, Jensen Huang, to unpack a negotiation strategy that every business leader, entrepreneur, and lawyer must master: making yourself indispensable.

In a climate wh...

How can you tell if your negotiating partner is lying to you? This week on S4N, Gene dives into the art and science of lie detection – drawing on intelligence agency strategies and real-world tools every savvy negotiator should have in their toolkit.

We begin with the deeper meaning behind the classic courtroom oath: "to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Gene explores what "the...

What happens when two relentless negotiators face off, both determined not to give an inch? Why do so many high-level business discussions go nowhere? And what could change the outcome?

This week on S4N, Gene unpacks the story of Bill McGowan – a groundbreaking but often overlooked figure who paved the way for the cell phone you're holding in your hand right now. McGowan helped dismantle AT&T's monopoly through bold leadership at M...

This week on S4N, Gene uses Taylor Swift's legendary dispute over her master recordings to explore what really happens when business partnerships break down – and what you can do when the system isn't built to favor you.

It's a story packed with high emotion, high stakes, and a surprising amount of strategic brilliance. But beneath the headlines is a case study in how leverage is built, how it shifts, an...

What can a Russian political prisoner teach you about winning in the boardroom?

This week on S4N, we explore the bold persuasion tactics of Alexei Navalny... and what they reveal about power, leverage, and conviction in business. Navalny's fearless strategy wasn't about compromise. It was about clarity, ethics, and calling out the game while still playing to win.

This week on S4N, Gene dissects the high-stakes world of NFL draft day negotiations through the cautionary tale of Shedeur Sanders – rising quarterback and son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. What unfolds when raw talent, family legacy, and unshakable self-belief crash headfirst into the cold, calculated machinery of a billion-dollar sports business?

Having watched Shedeur's draft stock inexplicably plum...

This week on S4N, Gene opens with Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade" and the fatal consequences of a misunderstood order, drawing a direct line from Crimea in 1854 to the high-stakes negotiations at Yalta in 1945 – to the boardrooms of today. With Ukraine and Crimea once again in the headlines, we explore how blind obedience, unchecked egos, and behind-the-scenes power plays helped shape the modern world – and w...

What happens when you try to silence a whistleblower? The whistles get louder.

This week on S4N, Gene digs into the explosive story behind Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams's courageous exposé of her years behind the scenes at Facebook – plus the high-stakes negotiations, ethical dilemmas, and intense resistance she faced from one of the world's most powerful companies.

Drawing from the ...

What are the 3 P's of negotiation? Preparation, preparation, and… oh yeah, preparation. This week on S4N, Gene dives into one of the most critical – and most overlooked – building blocks of negotiation success: thorough preparation. With over 40 years in the field, Gene explores how and why skipping this step has led to more failed deals than any other misstep he's seen – and how you can avoid the same pitfalls.

Donald Trump insists that he won the 2020 election. Barack Obama stated that the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate wasn't a tax when, in effect, it was. Nancy Pelosi famously declared, "We have to pass the bill so you can find out what's in it." George W. Bush used questionable facts to justify the war in Iraq. If there's one truth, it's that politicians often misrepresent it, which raises the question: why?

This week on S4N, as whispers of another economic downturn grow louder, Gene dives into the 2008 financial crisis and turns his attention to one of the most pivotal moments in financial history – the collapse of Lehman Brothers. We've talked a lot on S4N about knowing your BATNA and being willing to walk away from a deal – but what if your only option is to get the deal done? What went wrong in the final negotiations ...

On S4N, Gene usually steers clear of covering live negotiations – too much could be happening behind the scenes. But on Friday, the world got to watch the dramatic events that unfolded in the Oval Office as President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came face-to-face in a tense and high-stakes meeting. What started as a crucial diplomatic discussion quickly turned into a show...

What do you want? A simple question, but one that people often forget to answer before going into a negotiation. In a new application of Morgan Housel's bestselling book The Psychology of Money, Gene breaks down the factors that contribute to what people want and their impact on the dealmaking process.

Explore how regret plays into whether or not a deal gets done, reframe how you think when you're negotiating with someone you think...