Sep 23, 2020
Kwame Christian, ESQ. is an
attorney, meditator, and the author of the best selling
book, Finding Confidence
in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best
Life.
His book is an Amazon Best-Seller
and has helped countless individuals overcome the fear, anxiety,
and emotion often associated with difficult conversations through a
branded framework called Compassionate Curiosity.
Kwame walks us through how to
leverage emotions to effectively bridge the gap between negotiation
and conflict.
Kwame is also the host of the
world’s most popular negotiation podcast, Negotiate Anything.
Kwame’s TEDx talk, Finding Confidence in Conflict, was the most
popular TEDx Talk on the topic of conflict in 2017, and has been
viewed over 150,000 times.Kwame also serves as a negotiation and
conflict resolution professor at The Ohio State University’s Moritz
College of Law. The Dispute Resolution Program at Moritz is the top
ranked dispute resolution program in the country. He is also a
professor in Otterbein University’s MBA program. Prior to
practicing business law and founding ANI, Kwame worked at the
Kirwan Institute doing civil rights work. While at Kirwan, Kwame
focused on criminal justice and health equity.
Key Takeaways
[4:25] When you travel abroad to
new and exotic locations, it can really test your negotiation
abilities as you haggle for items you want at the
market.
[8:45] Kwame’s book,
Finding Confidence in
Conflict, can be used
in high-level stressful business negotiations as well as trying to
communicate effectively with family.
[10:05] Whether we like it or
not, we are not thinking machines. We are feeling machines that
happen to think. Emotions play a big part in everything we
do.
[11:25] Most times when people
fail at negotiation, it’s because they didn’t address the
underlying emotional issues.
[14:10] The “natural” human
doesn’t want to engage in conflict.
[16:20] Conflicts break down
because there’s a developed “me vs. you” narrative.
[20:55] When addressing conflict
or a difference in opinion, it’s important to first recognize the
emotions in ourselves as well as the emotions in others.
[25:35] Kwame shares his
thoughts on diversity and inclusion and what we need to be doing
better to bridge the gap.
[27:15] Everyone needs time to
process their emotions to effectively communicate what they’re
feeling. However, men often do feel comfortable saying words like
‘disappointed’ or ‘sad.’
[29:15] Sometimes you need an
outside perspective to help you dig deep within yourself in a way
that you can’t do by yourself. This can be a trusted friend, coach,
or therapist.
[29:55] When it comes to the way
women negotiate and the literature out there, Kwame recognizes
we’re asking women to fend for themselves when we should all be
advocating for them.
[36:45] You’re not going to be
able to overcome your own biases unless you have a bit of
self-awareness, and take the time to create solutions for
them.
[43:25] Listener challenge: Use
the Compassionate Curiosity Framework:
- Acknowledging and Validating
Emotions.
- Getting Curious
with
Compassion.
- Engaging in Joint Problem Solving.
Quotable Quotes
- “The
best things in life are on the other side of difficult
conversations.”
- “Our
emotions are going to get the first shot of interpretation of
anything.”
- “We’re working against our psychology when we
just say, ‘I’m going to pretend I don’t have any
emotions.’”
- “You
can’t overcome a problem if you don’t know there’s a
problem.”
- “Strengthen the foundation of your business by
ensuring all employees feel heard, supported, and
honored.”
Resources Mentioned
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