After returning to the conference room at the community center, Leo told Margaret, Frank, and the others about the proposal Wexler had put forward.
When Frank finished listening, he slammed a fist down on the table.
“I knew those bastards were up to no good!” He paced angrily. “They think they can throw money at us and send us packing? In their dreams! Tomorrow I’ll get the union brothers together and block the doors of City Hall. Let’s see who dares come tear down our homes!”
Sarah, meanwhile, calmly opened her laptop.
“I looked into Alan Wexler’s background,” she said. “He’s one of the best commercial lawyers in Pittsburgh, especially skilled at handling land dispute cases involving the government. In his entire past record, he has never lost a case. He’s extremely good at using legal procedure to drag his opponents down.”
Margaret said nothing. She simply looked at Leo, waiting for his decision.
Leo felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.
The confrontation with Wexler had drained him even more than spending an entire day in the library poring over documents.
He felt like an amateur boxer being toyed with by a professional.
Roosevelt’s voice rang out in his mind, calm and powerful.
“You’ve made the same mistake again, my boy.”
“You tried to defeat him at the negotiating table with morality and reason. But you must remember: the essence of negotiation is not defeat, but guidance.”
“Negotiation is not a life-and-death duel. It is making your opponent clearly understand that accepting the terms you offer will cost him far less than continuing to fight you. It is a choice based on rational calculation.”
“The essence of politics is the art of compromise. The key lies in who is compromising, and who is profiting.”
Leo was somewhat puzzled.
“Compromise? Are you saying we should accept his proposal?”
“Of course not,” Roosevelt said. “Compromise is not surrender. A smart compromise is trading the smallest price for the most important victory. Now, let me give you a real lesson in political negotiation.”
“First: reframe our narrative. Never let your opponent feel that he is losing to you. You must give him a way to step down, make him feel that accepting your conditions is the smarter choice for himself, for his client, and even for that not particularly reliable ally of his, Mayor Cartwright.”
“We won’t define this negotiation as a victory. We will define it as a joint effort to solve a problem.”
“Second: create and use your leverage. The greatest trump card in your hand right now is not the minutes from that luncheon—that can only serve as a final deterrent. Your greatest trump card is uncertainty.”
“What Wexler fears most is not a reasonable student like you, but the angry public sentiment he cannot control at all, and Frank outside the door, ready at any moment to take off his tires. You must learn to make use of the ‘Franks,’ make him feel that you are the only rational party capable of keeping the situation under control. Only then will he be willing to negotiate with you alone.”
“Third: clearly define what is not for sale and what can be traded. Before any negotiation begins, you must draw two lines in your mind. What are the core interests you absolutely cannot yield on, and what are the things you can put on the table as bargaining chips?”
“You must be clear: preserving the community center at its original location is what is not for sale. There is no room for negotiation on that. Then, you must proactively create things that can be traded, so the other side can also gain something in the negotiation and satisfy his professional vanity as a negotiation expert.”
Roosevelt’s three points suddenly made everything clear to Leo.
He finally understood just how absurdly wrong his previous line of thinking had been.
All along, he had been thinking about how to “defeat” Wexler, while Roosevelt was thinking about how to “use” him to achieve their own goal.
Under Roosevelt’s guidance, Leo began drafting an entirely new negotiation plan.
First, he went to find Frank.
“Frank, I need you to do me a favor,” Leo said.
“What favor? You want me to smash up that lawyer’s office?” Frank rubbed his fists together eagerly.
“No.” Leo smiled. “I need you to stay angry. In fact, even angrier than you are now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I need you to mobilize the union brothers. Starting tomorrow, go to the entrance of Summit Development Group’s headquarters every day and hold a peaceful protest. Don’t block the doors, don’t start any conflicts, but make sure their employees see your signs and hear your slogans every day when they come and go from work.”
Frank immediately understood Leo’s intention.
“You want me to play the bad guy, and you’ll play the good guy?”
“Yes,” Leo said. “Wexler must believe that public anger is on the verge of spiraling out of control, and that I am the only person who can restrain this beast.”
Next, Leo went to Sarah.
“Sarah, I need you to help me prepare a document.”
“What document?”
“A proposal for the future development of the Steelworkers’ Community Center,” Leo said. “I want Wexler to see that we’re not just a bunch of old-fashioned people who only know how to protest. We have our own plans for the community’s future.”
Over the next two days, Leo and Sarah shut themselves in the office to put together the proposal.
At Roosevelt’s instruction, Leo deliberately added several “upgrade and renovation” projects to the proposal that looked wonderful on paper, but were in fact extremely expensive and not part of the center’s core functions.
For example, he planned to transform the roof of the community center into a modern rooftop garden.
He also planned to equip the community center with a historical experience room using virtual reality technology, allowing children to immerse themselves in Pittsburgh’s steelmaking history.
He even planned to invite a famous architect to carry out an artistic renovation of the community center’s exterior walls.
Each of these projects would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“What are you doing?” Sarah asked, looking at the proposal as its budget grew increasingly outrageous, thoroughly confused. “We don’t have the money for any of this.”
“I know,” Leo said. “These are the things I’m preparing to take to Wexler as trade items.”
“At the negotiating table, we will proactively give up things we never had in the first place in exchange for the things we truly want.”
All the preparations were complete.
Leo picked up the phone and dialed Wexler’s assistant.
“Please pass this on to Mr. Wexler,” Leo said into the phone.
“The mood in the community is about to get out of control. I believe it’s necessary for us to hold a second meeting.”
“This time, I hope to bring a solution beneficial to both sides and use it to persuade those angry old workers.”