We’ve all been there. Your father owns a Fortune 500 company and you’re trying to outperform your siblings by securing multi-billion dollar deals to keep the business in the family. Well, maybe not but the characters in Max’s series, “Succession,” have been there. And while the hit series concluded earlier this year, there’s still plenty to learn in terms of negotiation styles from the Roy family.
Based on well-respected research by Kenneth W. Thomas’s five negotiation styles, let’s take a look at how the Roy family siblings manage. Understanding these different types of negotiation styles can prove helpful during any goal-setting conversations we might have with leadership or teams at the beginning of the new calendar year.
Spoiler alert: This blog post contains various plot details for “Succession.” You’ve been warned.
Roman Roy
The youngest of the Roy bunch, Roman, mainly used the “accommodating” negotiation style throughout “Succession.” This involves the individual being attuned to the other party’s emotional temperature, body language, or non-verbal cues. In turn, that is leveraged to foster a pro-social (albeit more passive) atmosphere with whomever the individual is negotiating.
Roman best displayed this strategy when attempting to secure a deal with Lukas Matsson in season three. He wanted to convince Matsson to fully acquire Waystar-RoyCo in an attempt to gain favor with his father, Logan Roy. Roman sensed Matsson’s juvenile personality and courted him by mirroring that mindset to convince him to acquire the company. Although this was initially successful, with Roman acquiring Matsson’s favor over his siblings, Roman pivoted and tried to stop the merger when his siblings persuaded him to join their cause.
Siobahn “Shiv” Roy
The sole female sibling, Shiv, mostly employs the “collaborative” negotiation style during the series. This type of negotiator favors solving complicated problems in creative ways and identifying the underlying issues that are preventing the other party from coming to an agreement. They’re also described as aiming for a “win-win” solution — similar to accommodating but more pro-self.
Shiv exhibits this negotiation style many times throughout the series. Most notably at the end of season three, Shiv put all differences, betrayals, and insults aside and rallied her two brothers to intercept their father from completing the merger with Matsson. However true to form, their father, Logan, was one-step ahead of his children and foiled their attempted coup.
Kendall Roy
Lastly, we have the (second) eldest of the Roy siblings, Kendall. Without a doubt, Kendall exhibits a “competing” negotiation style. From the pilot episode until the series finale, Kendall is always vying to become the sole successor of the family business. A “competing” negotiator sees situations from a win-lose angle and typically uses aggressive tactics like insults, debate, or challenges to complete a deal. That’s probably not the best style to use in a 2024 strategy session with leadership and colleagues.
In the end, it’s because of this negotiation style that the entire Waystar Royco enterprise was fully acquired by Matsson in the series finale. Scorched-earth negotiation styles like this one just don’t work like they should, both in dark-comedy dramas and real-world work environments.
Thomas’s research contains several other negotiation styles if you’re interested in learning more, but these three are the most evident ones displayed by the Roy siblings. Using a mix of negotiation styles and adjusting them according to the situation is key to effectively achieving organizational and professional development goals. Now, cue the “Succession” theme music. It’s time to “make your move.”
Ryan is the Internal Communications Team Lead at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He has over 10 years of federal service with a B.S in Marketing from George Mason University and an M.A. in Communications from Johns Hopkins University. Ryan lives in Arlington, Va., enjoys running, traveling and being a plant dad.
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