Negotiating Power
Negotiations are a Way of Life
Wendeen Eolis has drawn upon her life experience - an unconventional childhood, early independence, a multifaceted faceted career in law and business, a sidestep into corridors of political power, an unanticipated role in a public corporate boardroom, and the world of high-stakes poker competitions - as the tools to hone her negotiating skills.
She has integrated into her negotiation strategies, life lessons learned, at every turn; as an emancipated minor with two jobs, a college graduate with a BA degree in Philosophy, and three small children in tow. She threw her PhD aspirations in organization Psychology to the wind in favor of entering the business world, after negotiating successfully for funding. But - she continued her part-time weekday job as a cocktail waitress and used weekends to hone her skills as a blackjack counter for extra income - just in case things went awry.
The Gaming Industry Beckons
Within a year of formalizing her search business, she gave up card counting in favor of courting gaming industry executives, pitching attorney and law firm search assignments instead. Her business profits soared with assignments negotiated with casinos. Many of the casinos were her former stomping grounds as a blackjack card counter in Las Vegas and Europe. Scoring an invitation to join Caesars in the boardroom was the ticket to further boardroom assignments throughout her career.
Skill and Luck
Wendeen’s expanding business in the gaming industry and her growing skills in negotiation led her to one of the last bastions of male chauvinist pride, the poker table. As in business, so it is in poker; negotiating skills are critical for long-term success. But, in all her endeavors, Wendeen looks for “lucky breaks.” She says, “Good luck resides at the intersection of preparation and opportunity.”
Winning Negotiations
Wendeen became an internationally recognized poker player using 4 key negotiating strategies: 1) betting big with the goods, 2) sizing bets with respect for small advantages, 3) betting on potential based on accurate calculation of risk against rewards, and 4) betting decisively with validated information, after others have declared where they stand. She further sharpened her business and poker negotiations based on her understanding that bluffing is an overrated strategy and that women can win more by bluffing less.
Poker Improves Wendeen's Negotiating Skills
Every step of the way, Wendeen has relied upon her negotiating skills, recognizing that most of the time only the size and shape of the table changes. Poker has highlighted for Wendeen both the extraordinary similarities and the critical differences found at different negotiating tables.
In poker, the consequences of one’s actions are instantaneous. In business, the impact of one’s actions often takes much longer to define. Effective negotiations in business and politics are generally the product of compromise, while poker requires subduing the opponent and winning the war.
In her spare time, Wendeen enjoys the game of poker; the competition, and instant gratification on completion of a winning hand, or a piece of the purse in world-class tournaments. But her life aspirations are driven by negotiations that value kindness, collaboration, and productivity, and the belief that part of doing well is doing good.
Negotiating Skills Promote Options
Wendeen’s assignments in business, the legal profession, government, the gaming industry, and competitions at poker tables have required an eclectic mix of negotiating strategies with some unique results.
With confidence in her presentation of people-reading acumen, Wendeen applied to many cruise lines for an on-board lecture gig. Only one out of twelve was interested. She performed for the only guest who attended. Renowned social thinker, Alvin Toffler gave her rave reviews, and all the cruise ships that had previously turned her down were suddenly knocking at her door.
Lecture circuit agencies looked to her for presentations at law firms, corporate law departments, motivational seminar programs, poker programs, special events, and international gaming conferences around the world.
One of those engagements, a presentation at the inaugural of Sportel in Monte Carlo, at the invitation of Prince Albert, led to further business assignments for the Principality and the Societe Bain de Mer.
Opportunities Expand With Negotiating Savvy
In 2006, the Commissioner of the World Series of Poker formed a Players Committee. Wendeen was invited to become a member. Months later she negotiated a bigger role as Chair of the International Player Committee. The promotion was offered after a discussion about Eolis International Group’s global connections.
In 2007, Wendeen saw the poker boom as the right moment to galvanize the poker industry to encourage sportsmanship and respect for others at the table. She was a founding member and Vice Chairman upon the opening of the World Poker Association, and she was elected Chairperson of the Association in 2008. She held that position until she passed the mantle to take on political consulting assignments during the presidential campaigns of that year.
In 2011, Wendeen was at the forefront of the iGaming debate in the United States following the Justice Department's prosecutions of iGaming companies on US shores. At the same time, European iGaming companies sought to protect and grow their businesses in the EU.
Wendeen's untiring efforts to assist European companies in selecting special counsel to address these matters resulted in her being a finalist for "Leader of the Year" at the European–based Woman in Gaming Awards. She then expanded her gaming industry work to include Indian Gaming companies and also became an investigative journalist writing knowledgeably about iGaming matters and proposed legislation around the globe.
In a world where one thing leads to another, Wendeen has relied upon her negotiating skills in her pursuit of a Renaissance life.