Lorna Hines, a Real Estate Consultant, teaches and coaches effective and efficient dialogues for buying and selling homes. I wanted to repeat something that she said, “The power of negotiating is the ability to walk away; and, the skill of negotiating is never having to.” What a profound concept. I believe that the best negotiators are those who do not damage the relationship between the parties.

August of 2007 a few months prior to his death, I had the opportunity to have lunch and talk with Coach Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers who told me that his success came from the fact that he maintained relationships throughout his life, even when negotiating with others.