Pharaoh Failed at Negotiations

And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. Exodus 12:31‭-‬32 KJV

To be a Pharaoh in Egypt, had to be by birth. Rarely, but some were assigned to be Pharaohs through a strategic system of selection. Here, the best and the brightest or a war hero, or a member of the elite was selected. Pharaoh was a military, civil and religious leader who worked with the god horus. He was supposed yo be a serious intellectual. We did all this to point out that this Pharaoh failed miserably in negotiations with Moses. Any leader must first learnt the secret art of negotiations if the leader is to succeed. Negotiation is the art of reaching agreements. Notice he called Moses at night, responding to his loss. He did not seem to understand his limits in this discourse. His ego got the better of him. He had little or no concessions at all. If it was today, we would have recommended a few books: Chris Voss’s Never Split the Difference; Roger Fisher’s, Getting to Yes. These are simple books in Negotiation 101. There’s even a free report of Harvard University on negotiating with difficult people. He had not read it. Pharaoh lacked the influence of the Holy Spirit, the skills of negotiations, and the knowledge of the God he was dealing with. He was self centered. If any leader operates like Pharaoh, he will loose the essential connections with people. You are better than this.