Ego, Authority, Failure: Using Emotional Intelligence like a Hostage Negotiator to Succeed as a Leader — 2nd Edition

Refreshingly genuine, inspiring and actionable for anyone involved in team work! The Bonus content addition in this edition is exceptional.

This is a book about practical psychology and methods that change the dynamic of a standoff to open the communications blockades that keep us from fruitfully resolving difficult conversation. That may be a sales negotiation or a disagreement over finances in your family, regardless the hard-gained lessons developed by the FBI and others to resolve hostage situations when applied in business and family relationships results in collaboration and a solution.Along the way, you'll learn to spot the toxic leaders in business and in politics and gain considerable understanding to what they fear. You'll also learn to distinguish between different negotiation styles and refine the tactics that move the conversations toward an outcome you want.If you ever wanted to know how to deal with unreasonable people, demands and pressure, this is your book. No review could do justice to the lessons you'll learn to not fall prey to cheap negotiating tricks and achieve what you want or at least more of it. This book is excellent, especially if you've read Chris Voss book on hostage negotiation first.

Really great book by Derek, well written with plenty of stories to illustrate. The world would be a better place if every leader followed the advice in this book. There is some commonality with Never Split The Difference but it feels like an enhancement and using the ideas from a different perspective rather than repetition.

I bought the 2nd edition on Kindle, which was great value at 6.36 euros. I never read the first edition, so I do not know what improvements were made in the 2nd.I have to give this book 4 stars. I read all the critical comments on the 1st edition. To get the negatives out of the way first, the 1st half of 2nd edition also rambles along with anecdotes mainly from the police force and army. The author might be excessively optimistic if he believes that anything other than issuance of, and obedience to orders (millenia-old) will be established in these systems.The repeated use of "wanna" and "gonna" in print is excruciating, even if that is the way people talk in the US. Another step in the destruction of the English language in America. The "60 seconds or she dies" rôle play with the students was not properly analyzed and their failed version is disappointing for the reader, because we are left in the dark as to how the situation could/should have been resolved. These are not really proper case studies.On the positive side, Mr Gaunt makes convincing presentations on the Black Swan Group YT channnel and their website. He is articulate and evidently speaks from considerable experience in the hostage negotiation area. So I attribute the first half of the book to his desire to provide a personal account of leadership issues he has encountered. That is to be respected and compensates for the rather unsatisfactory end result.The second half of the book deals with specific negotiating techniques that expand on Chris Voss's earlier book "Never split the difference" and add value, particularly tactical empathy and the use of labels & mirrors. The difference between calibrated questions and open-ended questions is explained. I found the detailed table on characteristics of the three negotiator types particularly useful.All in all great value at the price, and therefore recommended.