Dealcraft: Insights from Great Negotiators

While today’s Blackstone is a financial behemoth with over a trillion dollars under management, this episode takes us back to the days when the firm was a fragile startup and each deal had a make-or-break character. In interviews with Steve Schwarzman, Blackstone’s co-founder, chairman, and CEO, this episode recounts several deals and analyzes them for their broader lessons in

“At the table moves”—including establishing rapport, connection, and relationships—include Hillary Clinton dealing with Vladimir Putin, artist Jeanne-Claude, who with her husband Christo, won over countless stakeholders to build their massive outdoor art installations, as well as former Secretary of State James Baker, and Disney CEO Bob Iger. Protagonists whose “away from

In this second Dealcraft episode, six remarkable women and men discuss how they dealt with critical moments in their most challenging business and public sector negotiations. After each example, I’ll suggest insights that will help you handle critical moments in your toughest deals. Here’s who you’ll meet: Charlene Barshefsky, elite private sector lawyer and former US spe

The most viewed music video of all time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, was almost destroyed before it was released except for some almost unbelievable negotiations by music industry super-lawyer, John Branca, over 30 of whose clients have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame—ranging from Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones to Michael Jackson and Dr Dre. Incidentally, this

Season 1 Trailer: From Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, to trade agreements with China, pivotal Blackstone deals, and the peaceful end of apartheid in South Africa, landmark agreements are often spearheaded by savvy negotiators who employ winning strategies and tactics. Beginning September 9, join world-renowned negotiation expert and Harvard Business School professor Jim Sebenius