{"id":117,"date":"2026-01-27T19:23:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T19:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/?p=117"},"modified":"2026-01-27T20:03:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T20:03:01","slug":"the-best-christmas-gift-a-book-on-hostage-negotiation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/27\/the-best-christmas-gift-a-book-on-hostage-negotiation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Christmas Gift? A book on Hostage Negotiation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have just finished reading a gift I was given for Christmas: <strong>Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Voss was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the FBI. You might wonder what a hostage negotiator has to teach a CEO or a Business Director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#ff6900\" class=\"has-inline-color has-luminous-vivid-orange-color\">The answer is:<\/mark><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#ff6900\" class=\"has-inline-color has-luminous-vivid-orange-color\"> <\/mark><\/strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#ff6900\" class=\"has-inline-color has-luminous-vivid-orange-color\"><strong>Everything<\/strong><\/mark><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#ff6900\" class=\"has-inline-color has-luminous-vivid-orange-color\">.<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In business, we are taught to be &#8220;Rational.&#8221; We use logic, spreadsheets, and &#8220;win-win&#8221; frameworks. But Voss\u2019s core thesis is that humans are fundamentally irrational, driven by fear, and governed by emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>If you try to negotiate with &#8220;Logic&#8221; against an &#8220;Emotion&#8221;, you will lose every time.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Here are the three &#8220;Non-Rational&#8221; tactics I recommend every leader masters in 2026:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The &#8220;Accusation Audit&#8221;: <\/strong>List every terrible thing the other side could say about you before they have the chance to say it. It &#8220;disarms&#8221; the tension immediately.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tactical Labelling:<\/strong> Instead of asking &#8220;Why are you angry?&#8221;, you say: &#8220;It seems like you feel this proposal is unfair.&#8221; It forces the other person to reflect rather than react.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Power of &#8220;No&#8221;:<\/strong> We are trained to chase a &#8220;Yes&#8221;. But &#8220;Yes&#8221; is often a trap or a politeness. Voss argues that &#8220;No&#8221; is where the negotiation actually starts. It makes the other person feel safe and in control.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As an Executive Coach, I see these tactics work where &#8220;Traditional Sales&#8221; fails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When my clients are negotiating in their second language, they often get stuck on the &#8220;Maths&#8221; of the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They forget that the person across the table is looking for Safety and Understanding, not just a 10% discount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Negotiation isn&#8217;t a battle of wits; it\u2019s an exercise in Tactical Empathy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Lesson:<\/strong><br \/>Don&#8217;t &#8220;Split the Difference&#8221;. Splitting the difference is just a way for two people to walk away unhappy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Learn to navigate the emotional undercurrents of the room, and you\u2019ll find that the &#8220;Logic&#8221; of the deal takes care of itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>I have just finished reading a gift I was given for Christmas: <strong>Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Voss was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the FBI.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"read-more-button\" href=\"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/27\/the-best-christmas-gift-a-book-on-hostage-negotiation\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15,35,28,25,8,10,7,22,13,27,29],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-negotiation","tag-business-coaching","tag-business-english","tag-businessstrategy","tag-chrisvoss","tag-executive-coaching","tag-leadership-development","tag-negotiation-skills","tag-neversplitthedifference","tag-tactical-negotiation","tag-tacticalempathy","tag-toddbagnall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120,"href":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions\/120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishbusinesscoach.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}