Negotiation Is Not a Performance You Bring to the Moment

Someone asked me what the book is about. So I turned it over.

Howard H. Thaw
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1 min read
An executive sits with two employees for a practical conversation after a presentation.

Someone asked me what the book is about.

I turned it over, so everyone could take a peek at what's inside.

Back cover of The Negotiator's Compass: Who you are is how you negotiate. Negotiation is not a performance you bring to the moment. It is the visible expression of who you already are. And no tactic survives the moment you forget that. The Negotiator's Compass keeps you oriented. Clarity. Curiosity. Courage. Care. So that you can move through difficult conversations, conflict, leadership, and pressure, without losing yourself when the moment gets hard. The leader, the founder, the entrepreneur, staring down the deal that decides the next decade. The parent at the kitchen table at 11 p.m. The job seeker about to ask for what they're worth. The friend carrying the conversation nobody else wants to have. The curious seeking depth of insight. Because every negotiation eventually becomes a negotiation with yourself.

THE NEGOTIATOR'S COMPASS®—FIND YOUR BEARINGS

Everything I have been writing to you over these weeks — about clarity, about listening, about truth, about courage, about the pause — it lives here.

If you see yourself in those lines, the book was written for you.

If this resonates, forward it to the person who came to mind while you were reading.

— Howard

First published July 17, 2026 in True North, Howard's weekly newsletter. Read it on Substack.

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