By The Human Reach Editorial Team
Negotiation is one of the most consistently undervalued competencies in executive career development. AJ Mizes, founder of The Human Reach and former global HR leader at Meta, has a specific perspective on this: the executives who consistently achieve the best outcomes — in compensation negotiations, in business deals, in internal resource allocation — are the ones who understand that negotiation begins long before the formal negotiation conversation.
The Pre-Negotiation Phase
Mizes argues that most executives focus too much on the negotiation itself and not enough on the preparation that determines its outcome. The pre-negotiation phase — understanding your leverage, researching the other party’s interests and constraints, and establishing your walk-away position — is where negotiations are actually won or lost.
“By the time you’re sitting across the table from someone in a formal negotiation, the outcome is largely determined by the preparation you’ve done. The executives who consistently win in negotiations are the ones who’ve done the homework — they know what they want, they know what the other party needs, and they’ve identified the creative solutions that can get both parties to yes.”
The Four Elements of Negotiation Preparation
Mizes teaches a four-element preparation framework:
Know your BATNA. Your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement is the most important piece of information in any negotiation. If you don’t know what you’ll do if the negotiation fails, you’re negotiating from a position of weakness. Mizes recommends that executives always have a clear BATNA before entering any significant negotiation.
Research the other party’s interests. Effective negotiation isn’t about winning — it’s about finding solutions that meet both parties’ core interests. Understanding what the other party actually needs (as opposed to what they’re asking for) is the key to finding creative solutions.
Identify the full range of negotiable variables. In compensation negotiations, most executives focus exclusively on base salary. But total compensation includes equity, bonus, benefits, flexibility, title, and professional development budget — all of which are negotiable. In business negotiations, the variables extend even further.
Establish your anchor. The first number in a negotiation has a disproportionate influence on the final outcome. Mizes recommends anchoring at the top of your researched range — high enough to give you room to negotiate, but grounded in genuine market data.
The Negotiation Conversation
With preparation complete, Mizes recommends a specific approach to the negotiation conversation itself: lead with curiosity, not demands. Ask questions before making proposals. Seek to understand the other party’s constraints and interests before presenting your own.
This approach serves two purposes: it gathers information that can be used to craft more effective proposals, and it builds the kind of collaborative relationship that makes creative solutions possible.
About AJ Mizes: AJ Mizes is the founder of The Human Reach and a former global HR executive at Meta. He has coached hundreds of executives through high-stakes negotiations, from compensation packages to business deals.
