The world’s best negotiators. This year, PON honored Ambassador Tommy Koh of Singapore as its 2014 “Great Negotiator.”  PON has annually granted this award to a range of remarkable men and women such as former Secretary of State James Baker, Lazard CEO Bruce Wasserstein, and U.S. Special Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky.

Tommy Koh became the youngest ambassador ever appointed to the United Nations and later served as Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States. During his remarkable career, described in detail here, Koh played central roles in some of the most complex international negotiations ever held...

While most of us will not undertake negotiations of this complexity, Koh’s approach offers powerful lessons for all negotiations. Koh himself emphasizes often-neglected “fundamentals,” such as:

1. Master your brief. There is simply no substitute for doing your homework on the issues, the people, and the context in which you’ll be negotiating.

Read more [HERE].