The Negotiation Initiative

This week I took part in a couple of negotiation taster sessions hosted by Mark Davis from The Negotiation Initiative. While these sessions were not a complete course, they were packed full and I learnt far more than I would expect from 2 x 3-hour online classes. The sessions were a great mix of a negotiation principles, creative examples and activity-based learning. Holding a course through Zoom is no easy task, but Mark kept us all engaged and interacting throughout. Thank you Mark, I couldn’t recommend your course enough. I look forward to putting these skills into practice (/never losing an argument again). 😎

I had the pleasure of working with Mark during the first Hackathon on Democracy organised by the Council of Europe, where he served as moderator. Mark brought exceptional energy, professionalism, and insight to the event. His ability to engage participants, guide discussions with clarity and focus, and create an inclusive and motivating atmosphere was instrumental to the hackathon’s success. Mark combines deep understanding of democratic principles with a dynamic and approachable presence. He was not only highly effective in his role, but also a real pleasure to work with. I wholeheartedly recommend him for any role requiring leadership, communication, and facilitation skills.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Mark for his exceptional negotiation training and consultancy. His ability to provide efficient yet easy-to-use tools for planning and executing successful negotiations has been invaluable to us. Having gone through his training and sought his expertise as a consultant for complex deals, we have consistently benefited from his insightful approach. Mark has a remarkable ability to add that extra layer of strategic thinking, which has greatly contributed to our negotiation success. I highly recommend Mark to anyone looking to enhance their negotiation skills and achieve better outcomes.

As the Founder of Lucky Saint, I am pleased to recommend Mark Davis for his expertise as a negotiation coach and advisor. He delved in to not only understanding the intricacies of our business culture but was also cognisant of the personal stakes. On that note, he made himself available as such to align with my demanding schedule. He assimilated a lot of information and condensed it down in to suggestions as to how and why bridging cultural differences would ensure smoother and more successful negotiations. I’ll be bringing Mark in on future deals!

I’ve known, worked and studied with Mark in a fantastic relationship which has spanned over 10 years. Even writing that sounds incredible. I remember the person I was when I first met Mark through a training course he was leading at the Gap Partnership. The complete skilled negotiator -exactly what he needed to be when I set out on the course. He had his work cut out to get me on board. Needless to say, he nailed it. I left as the champion negotiator on the course and still have the bottle of champagne to prove it! I’m a very different person today and so much of that personal growth came from my interactions with Mark during that week and the following months. Since then, I’ve engaged Mark as a business leader to support my own teams to develop the broadest understanding of difference - in every corner - and to support negotiations through better understanding, communication and execution. Without any shadow of a doubt, I would not have accomplished the successes in my personal or professional life without his influence. On the flip side, I wouldn’t have been able to fathom or understand the opportunities in my failures without the guidance and teaching he has provided. I know that whenever I pick the phone up to Mark we’re going to have a cognitively compelling discussion whatever the topic - so wide is his knowledge and interests. I also know that during the conversation we’ll laugh a lot as the humour he is able to bring to any situation is unrivalled. Needless to say I can only thoroughly encourage you to engage Mark. He’ll support your development. He’ll improve any teams efficiency and capability, he’ll apply everything in a relevant and meaningful way, traverse any course necessary to support the arrival at your goals and you’ll have a great time doing it. Get him on board and you will succeed.

I worked with Mark periodically over the course of one year. In that year, Mark demonstrated the ability to appropriately provide practical coaching strategies and concepts relevant to a highly complex negotiation. His ambition and commitment to win were uncompromised! Mark’s contributions were tangible, and lead to the establishment of global terms between two giants in the travel retail sector. There is no doubt in my mind many others have benefited from Mark’s training and consulting services, and there will be many others in the future. It is rare to cross paths with people as professional as Mark, I hope to work with him again soon.