Episode #287 – The Core Value of ‘Win-Win’ in Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career
Caleb: Welcome to “The Animal Health and Veterinary Employment Insider,” brought to you by The VET Recruiter. In this podcast, Animal Health executive recruiter and Veterinary recruiter Stacy Pursell of The VET Recruiter provides insight and practical advice for both employers and job seekers in the Animal Health and Veterinary industries. The VET Recruiter’s focus is to solve talent-centric problems for the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. In fact, The VET Recruiter’s mission is to help Animal Health and Veterinary companies hire top talent, while helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals attain career-enhancing opportunities that increase their quality of life.
Today, we’ll be talking about the core value of “win-win” in a person’s Animal Health or Veterinary career. Hello, Stacy, and thank you for joining us today.
Stacy: Hello, Caleb. As always, I’m glad to be here with you.
Caleb: Stacy, We are talking about the core value of “win-win” today. What is “win-win”?
Stacy: Specifically, we’re talking about a “win-win” mentality.
Caleb: I know that you’ve touched upon that briefly in other podcast episodes, but what is the “win-win” mentality again?
Stacy: The “win-win” mentality is a frame of mind that seeks the mutual benefit in human interactions. It means that agreements and solutions are mutually beneficial and satisfying for the people involved.
A “win-win” negotiation is a careful exploration of both your position and also the position of the other person in the situation or negotiation. This exploration is done to find a mutually acceptable outcome that will give you both as much of what you want as possible. If both people walk away happy with what they’ve gained in the deal or the agreement, then that is the definition of a “win-win” situation.
Caleb: Since we’re discussing it, having a “win-win” mindset is one of your core values and one of the core values of The VET Recruiter. Why is it important to have a “win-win” in your Animal Health or Veterinary career?
Stacy: A “win-win” mentality helps you to develop humility. If you rely on others to help with your success, then it creates a sense of humbleness that enables you to find a mutually beneficial situation. “Win-win” makes both parties feel satisfied because they believe that neither of them is a winner nor a loser.
Caleb: This may be understood or go without saying, but you need the cooperation of both parties to create a “win-win” situation, correct? They both must have that mindset?
Stacy: Yes, that’s correct. A “win-win” situation is the result of a mutual-gains approach to negotiation in which both parties work together to meet interests and maximize value creation. In a “win-win” negotiation, when both sides are satisfied with their agreement, the odds of long-lasting success are much higher. This kind of approach also goes by another name.
Caleb: What name is that?
Stacy: It’s called the cooperative approach to negotiation. With the cooperative style of negotiation, people focus on mutual interests and benefits rather than position and power, which may be the focus of other negotiations. The cooperative approach attempts to meet the needs and goals of all negotiating parties, allowing everyone to gain something from the negotiation.
With this approach, both parties are thinking creatively about addressing everyone’s interests. This is known as “enlarging the pie.” When both parties understand there’s more to gain, they start to work together in negotiation.
Caleb: Do you have an example of a “win-win” situation or cooperative negotiation?
Stacy: I do! I have multiple examples, but this one relates directly to a person’s Animal Health or Veterinary career.
In this example, Lilly, who owns her own Veterinary hospital, is approached by a national chain about selling her business. She loves her work, but she could afford to not work if she got the right price for her hospital. But she also has teenage kids that she’d like to travel with and she’s getting tired of all the paperwork and working nights and weekends.
Now, Lilly and the national chain could negotiate on just one issue—money. If that was the case, then either Lily would “win” or the chain would “win” the negotiation. But what if they “enlarged the pie”? In exchange for selling the practice for a good price to the chain, Lilly is rehired as the principal veterinarian and she can still do the work she loves and earn a good salary. Also, she stipulates that she doesn’t want to work nights and weekends, she doesn’t want to be buried in paperwork, and she wants to take frequent vacations. On the other side, not only did the chain get the hospital for a good price, but they have someone experienced running the business who has a loyal following, so there will be a smooth transition.
By focusing on more than one issue, Lilly “enlarged the pie” and created a “win-win” situation for both parties.
Caleb: Both parties walked away happy and satisfied?
Stacy: Exactly. Because both parties recognized there was more to gain by working together to “enlarge the pie.”
I have another example, a simple one about something that happens in everyday life. An example of “win-win” is when you like the chips and your wife likes the pickle so she trades you her chips for your pickle. That benefits both or all parties, or that has two distinct benefits, one for each person.
“Win-win” thinking requires optimism that can see beyond the constrained resources, competitive threats, and problems of today to see opportunities to work with others to achieve success. For example, a manager who tries to learn from a talented rival in hopes of making great strides forward in their Animal Health or Veterinary career instead of seeing the person as an enemy.
Caleb: All of those examples make sense. So what’s the opposite of a “win-win” situation? Is it “lose-lose”?
Stacy: Yes, you could say that, but the majority of negotiations fall into the “win-lose” category, in which one party feels like they’ve won and the other party does not.
“Lose-lose,” on the other hand, means that all parties end up being worse off instead of being better off. An example of this would be a budget-cutting negotiation in which all parties lose money.
Caleb: Stacy, what are the attributes of the “win-win” mindset? Are people with certain characteristics more likely to have this mindset?
Stacy: That’s a great question. People with a “win-win” mentality have three key traits.
The first trait is integrity. This means they stick with their true feelings, values, and commitments.
The second trait is maturity. This means they experience their ideas and feelings not only with courage, but also with consideration for other people’s ideas and feelings.
And the third trait is a prerequisite to the “win-win” mindset, and that’s the abundance mentality.
Caleb: What’s the abundance mentality?
Stacy: It’s the belief that there is plenty for everyone. In other words, it’s the belief that you can “enlarge the pie.” If you don’t believe that there is plenty for everyone and only enough for you to get what you want, then you have what’s called the “fixed pie bias.”
Caleb: And people who have the “fixed pie” bias are less like to actively work toward a “win-win” outcome?
Stacy: That’s right. They’re going to think that there is only enough for them to win and not the other person. So they actively work toward a “win-lose” outcome where they win and the other person loses.
Caleb: So if one of the people involved in the situation is selfish and self-centered, then it’s more difficult to achieve a “win-win”?
Stacy: Yes, and that’s why character is the foundation of a “win-win” mindset.
Caleb: Can you elaborate on that?
Stacy: You might remember that the first key trait of the “win-win” mindset is integrity, which is related to character. There must be integrity in order to establish trust in the relationship and to define a win in terms of personal values. People with integrity and people of high character are more likely to have the abundance mentality, as opposed to the scarcity mentality.
Caleb: And the abundance mentality is the belief that there is enough for everyone.
Stacy: Yes, with the scarcity mentality being the belief that there is NOT enough for everyone.
Caleb: With everything that we’ve discussed to this point, this might be the question that our listeners are wondering about the most. How can a person create a “win-win” attitude and mindset in their Animal Health or Veterinary career?
Stacy: There are multiple steps involved with creating or developing this type of mindset.
The first step is to think positively. In order to work toward and expect a “win-win” outcome, you must think in a positive fashion and not a negative one. This is the difference between thinking about all the reasons why something can work and thinking about all the reasons why something can’t work. If you think about the reasons why something can work, you’re more likely to reach a “win-win” resolution.
Second, make a commitment and do not give up. Having this type of mindset requires perseverance and resiliency. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
And third, surround yourself with the right people. You may not notice it, but you probably think a lot like the people who are around you, the people you see and work with on a daily basis. Consider these people for a moment. How many of them do you believe have a “win-win” mentality? If you can’t identify anyone who has that mentality, then you might want to get some new friends and meet other people.
Caleb: What about when you’re in the midst of a situation with another person or you’ve started a negotiation? What specifically can you do to help create a “win-win” outcome?
Stacy: Once again, there are multiple steps involved.
First, determine your BATNA, which is your best alternative to a negotiated agreement. It’s your fallback position. The better your fallback position, the more leverage you have.
Second, evaluate your expectations. What would you consider to be a “win” for you in the situation? What is the least that you would accept and still consider it to be a “win”? Ideally, these are things you should know in advance.
Third, remain objective and be honest about any potential issues. Don’t take things personally; that will only make things more difficult. Being honest doesn’t mean that you’re losing leverage. It means that you’re being genuine and transparent about your desire to work out a good solution for both parties.
Fourth, remember the other person’s goals. It can be easy to get wrapped up only in what you want or what you hope to gain. If you forget about what the other person wants, it will be more difficult to reach a resolution, especially one in which both parties feel as though they’ve won.
And fifth, try to create mutually beneficial opportunities. This is the creative aspect of collaborative negotiation. You have to identify the areas in which your goals overlap and strategize ways in which to “enlarge the pie.”
Caleb: With the abundance mindset and not the scarcity mindset.
Stacy: Yes, exactly. You can’t help create a solution that will work for everyone if you don’t believe that such a solution can be created in the first place.
Caleb: Stacy, it seems like just about every time we discuss professional success on the podcast, we talk about the mental aspect of it and people’s mindsets. That’s really where success starts, in the mind, is that right?
Stacy: I would say that’s an accurate assessment. After all, you can’t do the right things unless you’re thinking the right things. You have to be mentally prepared to do something before you can actually do it. And I think that some people underestimate the mental aspect of success and how much of a role it plays.
For a person to truly be successful in their Animal Health or Veterinary career, I believe they must have the proper mindset and mentality.
Caleb: Stacy, we’re just about out of time, so is there anything else that you’d like to add before we wrap up today’s podcast episode?
Stacy: Yes, one last thing that I’ve mentioned before on the podcast, but I’d like to mention it again because it’s relevant to what we’ve been discussing. The win-win mindset is also referred to as the Principle of Reciprocity. As you may know from our previous discussions, according to this principle, when someone gives us something, we feel compelled to give them something in return. Conversely, when you first give something to someone else, they will feel compelled to give something to you in return.
Caleb: So how does this relate to the “win-win” mindset?
Stacy: People who subscribe to the Principle of Reciprocity are more likely to have the “win-win” mindset. That’s because they understand the value of having that mindset and creating outcomes that are mutually beneficial. They’re in the habit of giving first, including in negotiation situations. They understand that giving first does not make them weak, nor does it increase the chances that they’re going to “lose” the negotiation. Instead, they know it’s a critical first step in convincing the other person to negotiate in a collaborative way so they can both “win.”
This is why I encourage everyone to give first and practice the Principle of Reciprocity. It’s better for you, it’s better for the other person, and it’s better for your Animal Health or Veterinary career.
Caleb: Stacy, thank you so much for joining us today and for all of this great information about the core value of the “win-win” mindset and a person’s Animal Health or Veterinary career.
Stacy: It’s been my pleasure; Caleb and I look forward to our next episode of The Animal Health and Veterinary Employment Insider!
Caleb: Before we go today, I want to remind everyone in our listening audience to check out all the hot Animal Health jobs and Veterinary jobs on The VET Recruiter website at www.thevetrecruiter.com
If you are hiring one person or a team of people or are looking for your next career move look no further than The VET Recruiter. Thanks for listening everyone and we will be back next week for the next episode of The Animal Health and Veterinary Employment Insider