How Leading with Respect Becomes the Ultimate Power Move

Negotiate Anything

American Negotiation Institute

Education, Business, Self-improvement

4.7 • 748 Ratings

🗓️ 25 September 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Respect isn’t soft — it’s the sharpest power move in any negotiation. Buy The Book: Leading with Respect: Adventures of an Off-Price Fashion Pioneer: https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Respect-Boardroom-Marcy-Syms/dp/0806544813 Most people think negotiation is about leverage, contracts, and numbers. But Marcy Syms — former CEO of Syms clothing stores and author of Leading with Respect — knows the real power comes from something far deeper: respect. In this conversation, Marcy shares how being underestimated became her secret weapon, why culture can make or break multimillion-dollar deals, and how trust and regard are the hidden currencies behind lasting success. From walking into boardrooms as the youngest woman on the New York Stock Exchange to navigating mergers where culture ate strategy for breakfast, Marcy reveals how respect isn’t “soft” — it’s the sharpest strategy you can bring to the table. You’ll learn: Why being underestimated can give you an edge. How to turn disrespect into leverage in high-stakes negotiations. Why 70% of mergers fail — and how culture and respect could save them. How to walk away from deals (and jobs) that don’t honor your values. Whether you’re negotiating in business, leadership, or your personal life, this episode will change how you see respect — not as a weakness, but as the ultimate power move. Connect with Marcy Syms marcysyms.com Contact ANI ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Request A Customized Workshop For Your Company⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Kwame Christian on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠negotiateanything.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here to buy your copy of Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Negotiation isn't just about contracts and numbers. It's about people, and nobody knows this better than Marcy Sims.
0:07.1	Marcy grew up in business, working alongside her father as they built the iconic Sims retail brand.
0:13.4	She walked into boardrooms where people underestimated her, and she learned quickly that respect was the only real currency that mattered.
0:22.0	Over the years, she saw how respect, the lack of it could make or break multi-million dollar deals, shape entire
0:28.7	company cultures, and even decide whether partnerships thrived or collapsed. In this conversation,
0:35.8	Marcy shares the lesson she learned from a lifetime of high-stakes
0:39.2	negotiations and shows us why leading with respect isn't soft. It's the ultimate power move.
0:47.2	So I have kind of lived my life a little bit like what Dwight Eisenhower said, which is plans are kind of useless, but planning is
0:57.5	indispensable.
0:59.0	Oh.
1:00.5	Yeah.
1:02.3	That's, oh, I love that.
1:04.2	So let's start there.
1:06.1	So that was on my, my office desk for 35 years.
1:10.6	Oh, let's break this down. What does that mean to you? That was on my office desk for 35 years.
1:12.2	Oh, let's break this down.
1:15.0	What does that mean to you?
1:24.0	Basically, it says, you have to understand whatever you're about to face all of the elements that might come into play and all of the potential things, collaterally,
1:30.2	that you are not directly preparing for, but should be preparing for. Because the plan that
1:38.0	you have in front of you is not the way it's going to happen. So if you have five things on your
1:43.7	plan, we're going to get through
1:44.8	this, this, this, and this, you better have 20 things in order to get through the full planning
	...

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