I am working with a client approaching an acquisition and a
lot of what they are focused on in preparation is seeking to take a balanced
approach. For the
leaders involved in planning and negotiation, this means being fair and being
seen to be fair, which is a challenge when they are surrounded by lawyers
advising from a more one-sided perspective.
The leaders are working hard to suspend immediate judgement
and treating their own views as one source of input and balancing it with a
range of other inputs from diverse sources, particularly from people working at
the other company. They are working hard genuinely to listen to
understand their counterparts in the other business. I can see that they are
drawing on their inner emotional intelligence and seeking to avoid unbalanced
decisions and actions. They want to make
decisions that are in the best interests of the new organisation that will be
formed, and seeking to inspire confidence among people in the other company
that there is a level playing field. It
is impressive to observe.