I had the responsibility of negotiating a really large contract once, even though I had no experience whatsover in negotiating a contract. While it was terrifying, it also was a really good experience and I learned a lot, especially as we started using third party vendors more and more. Surprisingly, it was also a lot of fun…..you feel like you’re part of a courtroom drama (being offsite, dealing with outside counsel, asking people to leave the room to have confidential conversations). Here’s some lessons learned:

I’ve been in a lot of meetings where a presentation falls flat. Why? Usually because there’s not enough context for the reader. When that happens, either people politely listen, get confused and slow down the presentation asking lots of questions, or start hijacking your meeting. How do you ensure you are providing the right context in your presentation to keep everyone aligned?