Read the passage and answer the questions.

A few years ago I was on my boat with one of my employees, a great guy named Keenon; I was supposed to be giving him a pep talk and performance review.
“When I think of what we do, I describe it as uncovering the riptide”, I said.
“Uncovering the riptide,” Keenon said.
“Yes, the idea is that we - you and I and everyone here - have the skills to identify the psychological forces that are pulling us away from shore and use them to get somewhere more productive.”
“Somewhere more productive,” Keenon said.
“Exactly,” I said. “To a place where we can...”
We had talked for about forty-five minutes when my son Brandon, who runs operations for the Black Swan Group, broke out laughing.
“I can’t take it anymore! Don’t you see? Really, Dad, don’t you see ?” I blinked. Did I see what? I asked him.
“All Keenonis doing is mirroring you. And he’s been doing it for almost an hour.”
“Oh,” I said, my face going red as Keenon began to laugh.

He was totally right. Keenon had been playing with me the entire time, using the psychological tool that works most effectively with assertive guys like me: the mirror. Your personal negotiation style - and that of your counterpart - is formed through childhood, schooling, family, culture and a million other factors; by recognizing it you can identify your negotiating strengths and weaknesses (and those of your counterpart) and adjust your mindset and strategies accordingly. Negotiation style is a crucial variable in bargaining. If you don’t know what instinct will tell you or the other side to do in various circumstances, you'll have massive trouble gaming out effective strategies and tactics. You and your counterpart have habits of mind and behaviour, and once you identify them you can leverage them in a strategic manner. Just like Keenon did.

There’s an entire library unto itself of research into the archetypes and behavioural profiles of all the possible people you're bound to meet at the negotiating table. It’s flat-out overwhelming, so much so that it loses its utility. Over the last few years, in an effort primarily led by my son Brandon, we've consolidated and simplified all that research, cross-referencing it with our experiences in the field and the case studies of our business school students, and found that people fall into three broad categories. Some people are Accommodators; others—like me—are basically Assertive; and the rest are data-loving Analysts.

Accommodators think that as long as there is a free-flowing continuous exchange of information, time is being well spent. They will yield a concession to appease or acquiesce and hope the other side reciprocates. The Assertive type believes time is money. For them, getting the solution perfect isn’t as important as getting it done. Assertives are fiery people who love winning above all else, often at the expense of others. Analysts are methodical and diligent. They are not in a big rush. Instead, they believe that as long as they are working toward the best result in a thorough and systematic way, time is of little consequence. Their self-image is linked to minimizing mistakes. Their motto is as much time as it takes to get it right.

A study of American lawyer-negotiators found that 65 percent of attorneys from two major U.S. cities used a cooperative style while only 24 percent were truly assertive. And when these lawyers were graded for effectiveness, more than 75 percent of the effective group came from the cooperative type; only 12 percent were Assertive. So if you’re not Assertive, don’t despair. Blunt assertion is actually counterproductive most of the time.

Remember, your personal negotiating style is not a straitjacket. No one is exclusively one style. Most of us have the capacity to throttle up our non-dominant styles should the situation call for it. But there is one basic truth about a successful bargaining style: To be good, you have to learn to be yourself at the bargaining table. To be great you have to add to your strengths, not replace them.