Influence and Negotiation Strategies Program

In this intensive, in-person program led by Stanford GSB faculty, you’ll spend most of your time actively negotiating with fellow participants — all experienced business leaders from around the globe. Engage with our faculty and forge valuable connections with senior executives at other organizations.

This isn’t just about the theoretical. It’s about learning from successes and failures and building practical skills you can apply directly at your workplace. In an increasingly complex and fast-changing business environment, the ability to negotiate, influence, and build alignment becomes even more essential. You’ll learn how to get more of what you want, find out how to influence without authority, and know when it’s wise to walk away.

At Stanford GSB, we look beyond cases. We rely on empirically validated research to give us insight into the art and science of negotiation. Then, we use those findings to build effective frameworks for successful negotiations. You’ll examine the social psychology and economics of influence and delve into complex deal negotiations involving cultural differences, coalitions, and ethical challenges.

What’s the real cost of not negotiating? When do you share, and when do you hold back? How can you exert influence when you lack authority?

The Influence and Negotiation Strategies Program addresses these questions and more. It provides a rigorous and comprehensive curriculum that combines research-based discussions with daily, hands-on simulations.

This program will challenge your assumptions and help you develop powerful influence tactics and negotiation strategies for a range of situations — from recruiting a key player to competing for scarce resources to closing a major deal.

Below are just a few of the sessions you’ll attend as part of the program.

Everyone negotiates. Yet many people think of negotiation only as an interaction between a buyer and a seller, ignoring the common daily opportunities that exist to improve on the status quo for themselves, their teams, and their organizations. This session will help you to rethink negotiation as problem-solving and to identify how you can create and claim value in your interactions — from the everyday to the rare and high-value. You will also explore the value that is left “on the table” and begin to develop a framework for getting (more of) what you want.

While positions of authority in organizations offer you the right to give orders, influencing the other side to want to do what you want is usually a much more effective long-term strategy. This session examines the effective use of influence skills in the context of a supervisor-subordinate power relationship where orders can be given, but where reciprocal influence for mutual gain may be a more appropriate strategy.

The ability to exert influence without relying on the power of a formal title can often be critical to effective management. In this session, we will analyze strategies and tactics that will help you influence others when you lack formal authority.