The Inquisitive Negotiator: Vantage Voices

“The best tool in the negotiator’s toolbox is the question mark. And all too often, it’s the least used,” Kip Gary explains in the latest episode of the Vantage Voices podcast series. Vantage Partner Carol Bonett digs into Kip’s storied career and the lessons he’s learned. From his first deal, at age 23, to lease a 500-foot radio tower in west Texas to eventually leading largescale, multiparty negotiations for ExxonMobil, Kip shares a lifetime of lessons about what makes negotiators effective. He provides advice on how to avoid making the same negotiation mistakes, and why it pays to be well-trained, thoroughly prepared, and, most of all, relentlessly curious in the negotiation process. 

The Interviewer: Carol Bonett is a Partner at Vantage Partners where her practice focuses on helping some of the world’s largest companies and their leaders build capability to negotiate and manage critical relationships. She drives measurably improved business results for her clients, leveraging her experience as a practitioner, trainer, and consultant to develop and coach leaders, manage and train sales executives, and implement solutions to improve performance, communication, and other areas of critical impact to her clients’ businesses. Carol’s experience crosses a number of industries, with a focus on energy (oil and gas) and financial services organizations.

The Guest: Kip Gary’s deep expertise in negotiation is based on decades of executive-level experience as a commercial negotiator in the oil and gas industry, including 36 years at ExxonMobil. He received his degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M and an MBA from the University of Houston. 

About Vantage Voices Podcast Series
Our podcasts encourage listeners to think differently. Act differently. Uncover non-obvious solutions, and get in front of change. Listen in on spirited exchanges as Vantage’s leading thinkers and fellow practitioners get to the heart of the timely challenges that business leaders and their people face. You can see the full episode list here.