The finalization of the record contract today between the New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez, underscores that when both parties want to make something happen, everything is negotiable.
I want to inject something here quickly, as many times we've heard the phrase: everything is negotiable ... and it is. But we have to include with that the desire by both parties to get a deal done.
If our attitude is that we want to partake in win/win negotiations, most the time any obstacle can be overcome and a deal made where everyone involved feels good about it.
In the case of Alex Rodriguez, his desire to continue playing with the Yankees was at risk, as he had presumably received word that they no longer wanted him to play for them. This idea came from his agent Scott Boras. He was surprised by that assertion.
To further enhance the problems, Rodriquez opted out of his contract on the last day of the World Series, which caused hard feelings among a number of people in baseball, as they felt he was upstaging the event while hurting the league.
In response, Yankee senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said because Rodriquez opted out when he did, they would lose the $21.3 million subsidy received by the Yankees when they traded for him in Texas, and so there would be no more negotiations. It was a difficult circumstance, with a lot of emotion and egos involved.
Yet the record-breaking $275 million contract finalized today, covering the next 10 years, shows when two sides want something, they can work through it all and get it done.
With the wide divide between the two sides, Rodriguez chose to not use his agent, who had become part of the problem, and went with a representative from Goldman Sachs to negotiate a new deal. He even got some advice from billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
The point is Rodriquez really wanted to return to the New York Yankees, and the Yankees were open to receiving him back. That had to be in place before the details of the deal could go forward.
To get this going, Rodriguez had to humble himself, as he started to understand everything wasn't as it seemed. He said concerning the opting out incident, that it was "a mistake that was handled extremely poorly. It was a huge debacle ... distasteful and very inappropriate."
Sometimes in negotiations we make mistakes. When it happens, we have to take care of those mistakes. Rodriguez showed his commitment to the Yankees by admitting his mistakes and then wanting to go on and make a deal.
The other thing is what Rodriguez wanted and his agent weren't in agreement. He said, "Our goals were not aligned. It felt funny to me."
It may seem obvious, but here we're talking a deal worth over $275 million, and those on the same bargaining side weren't together on the issues. We can't assume anything in negotiations, and communication channels must remain open.
Next, Rodriguez was able to identify there was some type of problem, when he said "it felt funny to me." He knew something in the mix wasn't being communicated or represented right. The response all around revealed there was a disconnect somewhere; that's where he felt funny.
We also need to "feel" out things in negotiations. No communication is completely clear and understandable. We need to work on making sure everything is understood correctly. If something doesn't feel right, we need to step back and search for what that something is.
Negotiations aren't that complicated in their basics. They involve knowing what you want, negotiating win/win solutions, and keepting communication channels open and clear. The rest is simply getting the details of the deal completed.
Nothing can be accomplished if both sides don't know what they want. Once that's cleared up, like it was between the Yankees and Rodriguez, anything became possible.
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