Latest / Executive Careers with Fexingo: VP, C-Suite, and Senior Leadership Career Strategy / How Senior Leaders Use a Career Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement
Transcript
- Lucas: You're a VP of Product at a mid-tier SaaS company. You've been there four years, you've delivered two strong product cycles, and you know you're underpaid by about 35 percent relative to market. You're in active talks with a larger competitor, but you'd rather stay if your current employer would fix the comp and give you a seat at the strategy table. Luna: So you need leverage, but you don't want to bluff and get called. Lucas: Exactly. This is where the concept of BATNA — Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement — becomes the single most important tool in a senior leader's negotiation kit. And unlike a lot of career advice that stays theoretical, there's a real case from late 2025 that illustrates exactly how it works. Luna: Let me guess — the VP of Product who turned one alternative offer into a 40 percent bump and a board observer seat? Lucas: That's the one. And what's instructive is not just the outcome, but how she built that BATNA over six months without ever issuing an ultimatum. Luna: I think a lot of listeners would say, 'If I found something better, why not just take it?' But she wanted to stay. So the alternative had to be real enough to change the conversation, not just a ticket out the door. Lucas: Right. And before we go deeper — if today's conversation helps you think about your next negotiation, the way we keep this show ad-free is through listener support. It's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Just a low-key way to say this content matters to you, and it helps us keep doing it. Luna: Yeah, we appreciate that more than we can say. So back to that VP — the key was that her alternative wasn't just a verbal offer. She had a signed offer letter from a publicly traded competitor, with a start date 60 days out, and the comp was 50 percent above her current base. Lucas: That specificity is what made it a real BATNA rather than a vague threat. There are three components to a strong BATNA in a career context: timing, specificity, and exit cost. Her offer had all three. The timing gave her room to negotiate without appearing desperate. The specificity — a real number, a real title, a real start date — meant her current employer couldn't dismiss it as a bluff. And the exit cost was high enough that the company knew she'd actually leave. Luna: But what if you don't have a signed offer? Can you still use a BATNA? Lucas: You can, but you have to be honest about its strength. A weak BATNA might be a recruiter who says they have a role that pays 20 percent more — but nothing in writing, no timeline. That's almost worse than no BATNA because if you invoke it and the employer calls your bluff, you've lost credibility. The strongest BATNA is one you don't have to mention at all — it just informs your confidence. Luna: So how did she handle the actual conversation? Did she walk in and say 'I have another offer'? Lucas: She didn't lead with it. She scheduled a career development conversation with her CEO and the CHRO, framed around her contributions and her desire to have a bigger strategic role. She laid out the market data showing she was underpaid. Only when they said 'we don't have budget for that level of adjustment' did she say, 'I understand. I want to be transparent — I have an offer that reflects my market value. I'd prefer to stay, but I need you to close the gap.' Luna: That's a very different approach from 'match this or I walk.' It's cooperative. Lucas: It is, and that's important for senior leaders. At this level, negotiation is a relationship event. If you handle it with grace, you preserve trust. In her case, the CEO came back two days later with a package that included a 40 percent base increase, a bump in equity, and a board observer seat — which was the thing she actually wanted most. Luna: The board observer seat is interesting. That's not a standard bargaining chip. How did she know to ask for it? Lucas: She had done a pre-negotiation audit — something we've talked about in prior episodes — and identified that the company was about to raise a Series C and needed product expertise on the board. So she knew that a board observer seat had value to her and cost the company almost nothing in cash. That's the specificity of a good BATNA strategy: you're not just asking for more money, you're solving a problem they have. Luna: So the BATNA isn't just a fallback — it's research that tells you what to ask for. Lucas: Exactly. And it's also a risk-management tool. One danger of having a strong outside offer is that you might get tempted to take it even if staying is better for your long-term trajectory. A BATNA should be evaluated honestly: what's the expected value of staying versus leaving? In her case, staying gave her a board seat, which is a career accelerator that a higher salary alone couldn't match. Luna: But I want to push back a little. Doesn't this whole approach risk reputational damage? If your current employer feels leveraged, even if you stay, they might see you as a flight risk. Lucas: That's a real risk, and it's why the framing matters so much. If you frame it as 'I have an offer, match it or I'm gone,' that's a threat. If you frame it as 'I want to stay, help me find a way to make that work,' that's a partnership. The CHRO in this case actually told her afterward that they appreciated her transparency. And they've since promoted her to SVP. So it can work — but you have to be genuinely willing to walk if they don't meet you partway. Luna: What about the current environment? Mid-2026, we're in a relatively active M&A cycle. Does that make BATNAs stronger or weaker? Lucas: Stronger in some ways, because there's more movement. When companies are acquiring or being acquired, they often need senior talent to manage integration or to lead new divisions. That creates more credible outside options. But it also creates more noise — a lot of 'opportunities' that aren't real. So the diligence on your BATNA has to be even more thorough. You want a signed offer, not just a friendly conversation. Luna: So the rule is: don't negotiate with a phantom offer. Lucas: Don't negotiate with a phantom offer. And don't fabricate one. That's not just unethical — it's career suicide at this level. The business community is small. If you get caught bluffing, that reputation follows you. Luna: Let's talk about timing. When in the negotiation process do you reveal a BATNA? Lucas: The general rule is: as late as possible, but before the other party makes a final offer. If you reveal too early, you look like you're dictating terms. If you reveal too late, after they've made an offer you don't like, you look like you were hiding something. The sweet spot is after they've expressed willingness to negotiate but before they've committed to a number. In the VP's case, she waited until they said 'we don't have budget' — that was the opening to introduce her alternative. Luna: What about the role of the recruiter or headhunter? Should they be part of your BATNA strategy? Lucas: They can be, but cautiously. A recruiter's incentive is to close a placement, not to help you build leverage at your current company. If you tell a recruiter you're using their offer as a bargaining chip, they might withdraw it because they don't want to be used. So you keep the two processes separate. The alternative offer should be real and independent — not something you're manufacturing with a recruiter's help. Luna: So the BATNA is essentially a parallel process that you run silently until you need it. Lucas: Exactly. And that takes time. The VP we're talking about spent six months building relationships, going through interview processes, and getting to a signed offer. That's not something you do in a week. So if you think you might want to negotiate in the next 12 months, start now. Luna: One more thing — what if your BATNA is actually better than staying? Do you still negotiate? Lucas: That's the cleanest scenario, because you have nothing to lose. You can negotiate aggressively for what you want, and if they don't meet it, you leave for something better. But you still want to handle it with class. The VP had an offer that was 50 percent higher base, but she valued the board seat and the relationships at her current company enough to give them a chance to match the total package. That's a sign of good judgment. Luna: So the takeaway for senior leaders: build a real, specific, timed-out alternative. Use it not as a weapon, but as information that clarifies your value. Lucas: That's it. And the best BATNA is one you never have to name — because your confidence alone changes the dynamic. Thanks for listening to Executive Careers with Fexingo. We'll be back next week with another strategy you can use at the table.