16 How to Become a Better Negotiator

devastating to his opponent: ‘‘I don’t doubt the details you’ve de-
scribed, Senator, but your conclusions are wrong. When America’s
working people look at their pay stubs, they want to know one
thing: ‘Why is so little of this paycheck going to me and so much
going to the government?’ ’’ Reagan was communicating in a style
that made sense to his listeners while the senator was talking the
talk of the policy wonks back in Washington.
Good negotiators try to do what Reagan did in that example:
Instead of trying to negotiate with everyone the same way, they
first try to understand which style will be most effective, then reach
people in a way in which they want to be reached.

THE FOUR COMMUNICATION STYLES

The notion of different styles is not simply a theory. A body of re-
search supports the existence of individual differences in styles of
learning and communicating. In the 1920s, for example, the Swiss
psychoanalyst Carl Jung asserted that people develop and use one
dominant behavior style. Other researchers, like the American psy-
chologist Paul Mot, have suggested that people behave, communi-
cate, and learn according to one of four styles: Listener, Creator,
Doer, and Thinker. Let’s take a closer look at those styles, each of
which can help us become better negotiators.

Style I: Listeners
Listeners are people oriented. They believe that there is more than
one method for producing the same results. While they demand a
voice in decisions that affect them, they can be slow decision mak-
ers. They want to talk about the issues and get to know you as a
person. They place a high premium on relationships. Because of
this, they are often good mediators and team builders. But they just
can’t say no. Everybody’s priorities become their priorities. Perhaps
because of this, they are easily sidetracked. They seek security in

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