In this video, Professor Robert H. Mnookin, Chair of the Program on Negotiation, reflects on his experience leading a negotiation workshop for high school students in Israel. The key negotiation skills emphasized in the workshop were active listening and the ability to understand the perspective of the other side. As Professor Mnookin states in the video, “I told them the secret weapon to being a successful negotiator is to be a good listener.”
The negotiation skills training program was part of an ongoing partnership between the Amal School Network and PON, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in partnership with PON, and developed under the guidance of PON Senior Fellow Shula Gilad and Amal Network’s Director of English Studies, Rachel Tal. To date, the program has brought more than three hundred Arab and Jewish students from 6 different Israeli high schools together to learn negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
While in Israel, Professor Mnookin also gave a talk on “When to Negotiate and When to Fight,” as part of the Distinguished American Speaker series, hosted at the home of U.S. Ambassador Daniel Shapiro. Mnookin’s lecture was attended by over one hundred people, including many Israeli officials involved in formal negotiations with Israel’s neighbors.
