The Right Mindset for International Negotiations

Entering international negotiations with the right mindset, or attitude, is almost as important as being thoroughly prepared.

Sales people new to international negotiations often have the wrong definition for the right international mindset needed. They tend to identify the right mindset more with a superficial way of presenting themselves.

The Personal Reorientation Within

The right mindset involves a change on a deeper, more personal level. It means

• Opening yourself up to become keenly aware of the other person.


• And keeping your negative filters undercover.

As you become aware of that other person,

• Do not remain in your own believe system.


• Do not start comparing your standards or habits against the other persons


• Do not start checking off your differences.

Turn yourself towards the other person:

• Totally at ease with yourself


• Open to a new experience


• And try to meet him somewhere along the path between your two mindsets.

This is not about giving up any of your core values or beliefs or likes or dislikes. It is about putting them aside and giving your full attention to the other person without any negative filters.

Recognizing The Personal Exercise

Developing the right mindset is a very personal exercise. It can be hard to describe. And yet it is easy to recognize people who do have an international mindset.

It is also blatantly obvious when someone thinks he has mastered international communications... and hasn't. This is often happens because the person has kept his prejudices. He may not have had enough international exposure to need to readjust himself from within.

Quiet Unassuming Confidence

A short definition of how a person with a good international mindset appears to others is:

• Quiet unassuming confidence.

Assume your position without infringing of the boundaries of the others. But do it with quiet confidence.

When you turn yourself within towards the other culture it does not mean giving up any of your dislikes or prejudices. It means having the confidence to assume who you are and also to open yourself up to greet someone different on neutral territory.

Successful International Negotiations

The key to succeed in developing the right international mindset is to:

• Do the changes in adjusting your own personal outlook, and


• Assume a quiet confidence of your own position in your negotiations.

The right mindset is important in creating credibility and in creating smoother cross cultural communications. The smoother your communication the easier it is to appear professional in your international negotiations. The more professional you appear the more credibility you have.

Good preparation is the key to good international sales negotiation practices. But if you enter international negotiations without the right mindset, you will not get as much out of it as possible.

The right international mindset is often only acquired naturally through exposure to a wide variety of cross cultural communication situations.

If you are new to international negotiations, follow these processes and you will speed up your development of an international mindset dramatically.