The fascinating mechanics of striking a deal

If you wish to know how to become a master negotiator, a formidable body of books will now offer to train you in that art, but I’m not entirely sure it can be taught. The greatest natural asset, I suppose, is the ability to enjoy the game: the performative mulling, tough-talking, buttering-up, pitching of curve balls and – when absolutely necessary – flamboyant execution of a real or bluff exit. Yet even for those of us who are clumsy and reluctant hagglers, the mechanics of striking a deal can be fascinating. This is the stuff of the Dealcraft podcast, hosted by Jim Sebenius, a professor of the Harvard Business School, and himself a high-flying negotiator. Via ‘interviews with the world’s greatest dealmakers and diplomats’, he aims to distil ‘practical insights for listeners to apply in their own toughest negotiations’.

The first thing to notice about Sebenius is that he has a tremendously gravelly, reassuring and slightly soporific voice, suggestive of expensive Scotch and knowing observations in oak-panelled boardrooms.