When leaders roll out change, they often push harder on the message instead of pausing to understand why people are resisting. In this episode, Chris Voss—former FBI hostage negotiator and author of Never Split the Difference—returns to On Leadership to explore how empathy and understanding fuel real collaboration in times of uncertainty. Chris explains why the human needs for safety, agency, and feeling understood are just as critical in the conference room as they are in a negotiation. He shows how leaders can “go slow to go fast” by articulating what their people are thinking, using tools like the accusations audit, and shifting from “being heard” to helping others feel heard. Along the way, he offers practical language and mindsets leaders can use to lower resistance, build trust, and move teams forward—even when they can’t offer certainty about the future. We built an experience that we want you to be a part of. You can find it at https://leaddifferent.ai/. Come ask us the leadership questions that AI can't answer. Chris Voss is a former FBI lead kidnapping negotiator, bestselling author of Never Split The Difference, and founder and CEO of The Black Swan Group; a negotiation, training, coaching, and consulting organization that teaches people how to achieve better outcomes in high-stakes conversations. Recognized globally as a leading authority on negotiation, Chris developed his approach through decades of experience in crisis negotiation. Today, he and The Black Swan Group apply those principles to business, sales, leadership, difficult conversations, and high-stakes communication through The Black Swan Method® and Tactical Empathy®. Never Split The Difference has introduced millions of readers around the world to Chris's negotiation methodology. Through The Black Swan Group, Chris and his team help people go beyond understanding the concepts in the book and develop negotiation as a practical, repeatable performance skill through training, coaching, practice, and live experiences. The Black Swan Group offers in-person negotiation training, live and self-paced online negotiation training, coaching, keynote speaking, and advanced negotiation experiences for business owners, leaders, sales professionals, and other professionals who want to become more effective dealmakers. Learn from Chris Voss and The Black Swan Group: Negotiation training and resources: https://www.blackswanltd.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=franklincoveyonleadership In-person and live training: https://www.blackswanltd.com/live-events?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=franklincoveyonleadership Online negotiation training: https://www.blackswanltd.com/online-negotiation-classes?utm_source=youtube&utm=social&utm_campaign=franklincoveyonleadership As a global leadership and organizational performance partner, we give strategy the human edge™. For 40 years, FranklinCovey has helped tens of thousands of leaders, teams, and organizations around the world achieve breakthrough results and transform how they execute strategy at scale.To learn more, email us at info@franklincovey.com, visit franklincovey.com, or call us at: 1-888-868-1776
