I am delighted to link to Bob Bordone’s analysis of a viral exchange earlier this month between USTR Ambassador Katherine Tai and U.S. Congressman Greg Murphy (R-NC).
Short take: Murphy calls Tai “too nice” to be an effective negotiator, highlighting outdated and incorrect gender and racial tropes. Moreover, the Congressman is both wrong on the facts about her and about what is effective negotiation. Ambassador Tai handles him beautifully–demonstrating her terrific skills–and Bob does a masterful job of explaining this. I also think it’s a great clip for classes. I would definitely use this before or after my own TED talk and/or in conjunction with other reading on gender and racial stereotypes in negotiation. Bravo to Ambassador Tai and to Bob!