George Kohlrieser on Negotiation Pitfalls | George Kohlrieser | Big Think

George Kohlrieser on Negotiation Pitfalls

New videos DAILY

Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

George Kohlrieser says one of the most common mistakes is when negotiators forget that they have a number of options at hand, but, as Columbine proved, things will go wrong.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

George Kohlrieser:

George Kohlrieser is an organizational and clinical psychologist, a professor of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour at The International Institute for Management Development (IMD), and consultant to global organizations around the world.

His research, teaching, and consulting activities are focused on high performance leadership, high performance teamwork, conflict management, change management, dialogue and negotiation, coaching, stress management, work life balance, and personal and professional development. He is also a Police Psychologist and Hostage Negotiator focusing on aggression management and hostage negotiations. Kohlrieser is founder and director of Shiloah International, a consultancy offering integrated programs to a wide range of organizations. He has worked in some eighty-five countries in North and South America, Eastern and Western Europe, Middle East, Asia, India, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Kohlrieser completed his doctorate at Ohio State University where he wrote his dissertation on cardio vascular recovery of law enforcement leaders following high stress situations. He is also the author of a recent book entitled Hostage At The Table: How Leaders Can Overcome Conflict, Influence Others, and Raise Performance.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIPT:

Question: What should every negotiator be thinking about?

Kohlrieser: Well, you have to know what your bottom line is. Do you have an alternative? Because if you do not have another good alternative, you have less power. There is a power differential in all negotiation. Of course, hostage negotiator has a SWAT team behind them. However, I’ve never seen a SWAT team actually resolve the negotiation in it of itself. It is the negotiator, person on person, group on group who is able to persuade that mind shift change and it’s build around trust. So, you need to know what your other alternatives are in order to not be taken hostage. The moment you say, “I have to have this,” you lose power. And what you have to do is always remember there is choice, there is chose. So, Nelson Mandela, for example, he spends 27 years in prison, comes out speaking reconciliation and forgiveness. Here’s a man who understood that he was never a hostage. He never gave over his mind. He was able to focus on the fact that for 27 years he was there for a training, it was preparation. For what? To help bring South Africa out of apartheid. And when he came out, he did not show the hostage mentality. He actually became a great leader. So, he had basically no alternatives while he was there except to work with his mind, understand and see an opportunity. Can you imagine what it was for 27 years to direct this [IB] on opportunity? So, yes, you have to know what your options are. There’s always choice. I think the biggest mistake leaders make is when they forget they have choice, and that choice includes saying no, walking away, some of the best negotiators in the world will walk away because they see that there is a reason that they cannot go beyond the boundary. Now, if you’re a hostage negotiator, you can’t just pack up and say, “I’ll walk away.” You have to keep engaged in that dialog in order to maintain the bond and find the solution. But, remember, in a hostage negotiation, you have power because people want something. You only have to find out what that other person wants. One of the biggest mistakes in negotiation, people don’t take time to understand what others really want. Question: When does negotiation fail? Kohlrieser: You cannot do risk avoidance and the most dangerous situation is someone who is altered by drugs, altered by ideology in such a way that you cannot get a mindset change.

Read the full transcript at