On April 20, 2010, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, was sitting in her office in the West Wing. The split screens on her muted television in her office were, as usual, tuned to news channels to scan for breaking news. She looked up at the breaking news scroll and saw what appeared to be an oil rig fire. "I im-mediately called in my Chief of Staff and asked him to find out the details. Because if it was in America, it was going to become our problem," said Jarrett. She soon learned that a powerful ex-plosion rocked the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, located about 40 miles off the coast of Louisi-ana. The rig was on fire and more than a dozen workers were unaccounted for after the blast. While the Coast Guard assumed the task of coordinating the emergency response, President Obama called on Jarrett to directly managing the political response. The case goes on to describe Jarrett's leadership actions-specifically, the measures she took to manage the White House's relationship to the governors of the five states affected by the spill, from the date of the explosion through the event's conclusion. HKS Case Number 2265.0.

Some people are practically phobic about going to the bargaining table. If their minimum needs are met, they'll sign on the dotted line just to end the stress of dealing with people who have different agendas and styles. But that can be an expensive aversion, the authors write. When you're facing an important negotiation, rigorous preparation--running the numbers, scouting the marketplace, developing a Plan B--is essential. But it's only half the story. The truth is that your passions matter in real-life deal making and dispute resolution. You need to understand, channel, and learn from your emotions in order to adapt to the situation at hand and engage others successfully. The authors studied 20 seasoned negotiators to explore their thoughts and feelings about the process. They invited their participants to find and combine pictures that metaphorically depicted those feelings, and to describe in in-depth interviews the collages they'd created. Three reasons for the stressfulness of the negotiation experience emerged: lack of control, unpredictability, and the absence of feedback. This article includes a six-step warm-up exercise to help you prepare emotionally to negotiate effectively.

The Abraham Path Initiative board faces strategic and negotiating challenges in revitalizing a route of Middle East cultural tourism following Abraham's path 4000 years ago. The Path begins in the ancient ruins of Harran, in modern-day Turkey, where Abraham first heard the call to "go forth." It passes through some of the world's most revered cultural, historical, and holy sites, ending in the city of Hebron/AI-Khalil at the tomb of Abraham. With Abraham as a venerated patriarchal figure for Islam, Judaism, and Christianity-monotheistic religions whose adherents have so often clashed-the potential unifying power of this conception has attracted a remarkable range of supporters from around the world as well as considerable media interest. From a notion crystallized at Harvard in 2004, this idea has been carefully negotiated into a concrete reality with supporting country organizations in Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel. With the endorsement of the U.N.'s Alliance of Civilizations, over 300 kilometers of the Path have now been opened to a growing number of travelers ranging from student study groups to international leaders all walking stretches of the Path. Yet, momentum has stalled in key areas, strategic and operational issues remain unresolved, and the financial future of the initiative is clouded. Soon the board will meet to debate and decide these issues.