Why do smart CEOs prioritize alignment over conflict when the stakes are highest?

Every major negotiation — with investors, employees, customers, partners, or acquisition targets — shapes the long-term health of your business. But too many leaders still approach negotiations as a battle to win rather than an opportunity to build trust, expand the pie, and create better outcomes for everyone involved. In this episode, Jim Schleckser sits down with negotiation expert Stan Christensen to unpack why the smartest CEOs focus on fairness, relationship management, and strategic preparation rather than pressure tactics and positional bargaining.

By listening to this episode, you'll learn how to:

• Build stronger long-term business relationships by approaching negotiations as collaborative problem-solving instead of zero-sum conflict
• Avoid costly emotional decisions by using pauses, preparation, and strategic thinking to stay in control during high-stakes conversations
• Create better outcomes in salary discussions, M&A deals, and everyday negotiations by uncovering what truly matters to the other side

Play this episode now to discover why the CEOs who consistently get the best deals are the ones who prioritize alignment over conflict in every important negotiation.

Check out:

• 08:45 — Stan Christensen explains why the best negotiations focus on fairness, relationship management, and expanding the pie instead of treating negotiation as adversarial conflict.
• 27:10 — A powerful discussion on how CEOs should approach compensation, ownership, and aligning incentives for long-term wealth creation and leadership growth.
• 45:20 — Stan shares a fascinating real-world negotiation strategy used in a car-buying scenario that completely changes the game and shifts leverage back to the buyer.

About Stan Christensen

Mr. Christensen is currently the host of "All Things Negotiation," a popular negotiation podcast. He was a co-Founder of Arbor Advisors, a boutique investment bank in Silicon Valley, which he ran for 20 years. Previously, he worked as a mediator and negotiation advisor at Conflict Management Group. In this capacity, he worked in over 75 countries, negotiating transactions and mediating conflicts. He is a former Kellogg Fellow and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has taught Negotiation at Stanford University for over 20 years. His BA is from Brigham Young University, and he has an MBA from Harvard Business School.