Control Freak You are Type A. You are in negotiations. Take charge.

More often than I'd like, clients find me after their dealshave gone south and the other side has them in a chokehold. As Iexamine their deals post-mortem, I can usually trace the cause oftheir problems back to the original negotiations. For whateverreason, they cut a deal that left them exposed.

Of course, you can't shield yourself against every possiblemishap. But there are ways to structure your deal from the get-goto protect yourself after you sign on the dotted line.