The irrepressible — and for many of us irreplaceable — Michael Leathes has spread the word of a new proposal, for an international negotiation initiative called the International Negotiation Initiative, or INI.
Leathes, author of the recent and excellent book Negotiation: Things Corporate Counsel Need to Know But Were Never Taught (enthusiastically reviewed here) is putting flesh on the bone of one of the central propositions of his book: that skilled negotiation is not intuitive but rather a strategic exercise of developed skill — and a critically necessary one to the well-managed enterprise. He floats the idea that a global, trans-cultural and well-funded non-profit entity should be established whose mission is to promote skills of achieving consensual outcomes; to develop and articulate core concepts of negotiation; to “bridge gaps in access” to these skills for those who need but can’t afford world-class negotiation training; and to provide a collaborative platform for scholars, trainers and practitioners of negotiation.
Leathes, former in-house counsel at BAT, was a founder of IMI, which is generously supported by ICC, CEDR, AAA, JAMS, SIAC, GE and others. It assists the formation of QAPs, drives the YMI Initiative, was critical to the recent success of the GPC project, and advocates international independent standards through its ISC. Leathes notes that the IACM, meeting in Philadelphia in July, will feature a session on the proposed INI and invites contributions to the discourse through INI’s website, linked here.
And why not, I say. ML has always been A-OK with me!
