The Good Negotiation Company

Sang, James, Ekano and I, playing together at Royale Jakarta Golf Club today. Excellent weather.

These are some of the nicest people who live and work in Jakarta and who always have time to take me out on the course despite their busy schedules.

Appreciate their hospitality and generosity. Please be even nicer today by letting me WIN. Yikes!!

*Who says you can’t have fun while making good deals?

Always a pleasure to sit down with Xavier and share perspectives.

When you put people at the heart of everything you do, the results will always be better and often, more meaningful.

People first. Results follow.

Tea time with David Ho, Managing Partner at Curt & Co and Michelle Navaratnam, a leader in Leadership & Capability Development.

Our conversation centred on how organisations can collaborate to build stronger capabilities and better prepare businesses and their people for growth across APAC’s developing markets.

One theme stood out: authenticity. In business, trust is rarely built through polished presentations alone. It is earned through genuine intent, consistent actions and a willingness to create value together. Trust becomes the foundation for meaningful collaborations, impactful training and long-term profitable partnerships.

Looking forward to exploring opportunities where our combined expertise can help organisations strengthen leadership, negotiation and commercial capabilities.

Great catching up with Daniel Ho, Founder & CEO, Strategic Creative Consulting Pte. Ltd.

I enjoyed our conversation and appreciated his perspectives. Looking forward to staying connected and seeing where our conversations may lead. We definitely see the value in collaborating in the coming months.

AI has the potential to become one of humanity’s greatest achievements or one of its greatest risks.

It can accelerate innovation, solve complex problems, improve healthcare, transform education and unlock opportunities we once thought impossible.

But in the wrong hands, or without thoughtful governance, it can amplify misinformation, erode trust, displace livelihoods and create consequences beyond our control.

Like any powerful tool, AI is neither good nor bad. Its impact depends on the intentions, judgment and ethics of those who build it and those who use it.

The future won’t be shaped by AI alone. It will be shaped by the decisions we make today.We need to negotiate the outcomes we want.

Power without responsibility is dangerous. Innovation without wisdom is costly

Handle AI with care.

“A mistake repeated more than once is a decision.” — Paulo Coelho

In negotiations, everyone makes mistakes. We reveal too much, concede too early or avoid difficult conversations.

The first time, it’s experience.
The second time, it’s a choice.
If it keeps happening, it becomes your negotiating style and eventually, your reputation.

The best negotiators don’t strive for perfection. They conduct honest after-action reviews, identify recurring patterns and deliberately change them.

Ask yourself after every negotiation:
What will I do differently next time?

Improvement doesn’t come from negotiating more. It comes from refusing to repeat the same mistakes.

Your habits shape your outcomes. Your outcomes shape how others negotiate with you.

PM me directly on how to avoid making unnecessary mistakes in negotiations.

Most negotiations don’t stall because of a lack of options. They stall because people don’t recognise where they are in the negotiation.

Situational awareness is a competitive advantage. Do you have it?

Know when to build rapport. Know when to challenge assumptions. Know when to create value. Know when it’s time to close.

If you understand the stage you’re in, you gain the confidence to be flexible, the creativity to uncover new possibilities and the judgment to change tactics without changing your objective.

The best negotiators don’t rely on scripts. They read the room, adapt to the moment and turn uncertainty into opportunity. Be bold, be different.

Awareness creates flexibility. Flexibility creates leverage.

In golf, there's a saying: If you want to improve, get fit or get fitted.

Many people focus on tactics, scripts and clever responses, in fact, better outcomes often come from being "fit" and "fitted."

Get fit by strengthening your preparation, listening skills, emotional control and ability to think under pressure.

Get fitted by adapting your approach to the situation, the stakeholders and the objectives at hand. A negotiation style that works in one setting may fail in another.

The best golfers don't use the same club for every shot. The best negotiators don't use the same strategy for every conversation.

Success comes from having the right capabilities and knowing when to use them.
In negotiation, as in golf, improvement isn't about working harder. It's about becoming better equipped for the game you're playing.


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Breakfast meeting with Xu Jun, SEA ESS Director, CATL, Aravind Muthiah,
Founder, Aillium - Battery Risk Intelligence and Ron Goh, APTO Group Pte Ltd.

It was a conversation around ’ENERGY’ and how opportunities are plentiful in the region. The demands can be met with a purpose centric collaboration with good and credible partners.

I look forward in supporting them with a strategy build on trust building and managing expectations.

Negotiations can feel the same.
Effort, energy, even skill—none of it matters if your direction is off. You can push hard, argue brilliantly and still end up further away from the outcome you actually need.

Good negotiation isn’t about force. It’s about alignment.

Before the first offer is made, ask:�Are we solving the right problem?�Do we understand the other side’s true interests?�Is this conversation moving us closer—or just faster?

Distance achieved in the wrong direction isn’t progress. In negotiation, clarity of direction beats power of ex*****on every time.