Empathy and Understanding In Business

by Chris Voss, Chris Voss (contributor), Leading Professionals Worldwide (contributor)

In the business times of yesteryear, many did not believe that empathy and understanding mixed well with sound business decisions. However, with the more recent breed of entrepreneurs, many have increasingly recognized that successful and long-lasting relationships depend on using both empathy and understanding to build a solid foundation.The master of negotiation and Celebrity Expert® in this book, Chris Voss, reminds us that entrepreneurs want lasting relationships that build trust and clientele. He questions if anyone associates empathy with enterprise and entrepreneurism, and states that the qualities of trust and lasting relationships come out of understanding and respect for each other. In short, as stated by Brené Brown, “Empathy fuels connection.”To learn more about negotiation and how the Celebrity Experts® herein have improved their negotiating skills, it would be beneficial to read about their accomplishments. They have honed their skills and can be great mentors. They will tell you what worked for them and what did not – saving you time, energy and cost of ‘reinventing the wheel’ – the path to success – in negotiating.

Genres: Business

312 pages, Hardcover

Published January 4, 2024

About the author

A 24 year veteran of the FBI, Chris Voss is one of the preeminent practitioners and professors of negotiating skills in the world. He is the founder and principal of The Black Swan Group, a consulting firm that provides training and advises Fortune 500 companies through complex negotiations. Voss has taught for many business schools, including the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, Harvard University, MIT's Sloan School of Management, and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, among others.

Reviews

[Rian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Chris Voss only has one chapter. It’s a collection of articles written in a LinkedIn style. Very pompous and at the end of every chapter that author has it’s CV and other achievements noted. It’s a collection of anecdotes where the writer turns out to be a hero in one way or the other.

[Charlie Flood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because I’m a fan of Chris Voss. I like, and agree with, his approach of using empathy in developing connections with people whether at work, at home and elsewhere. Having read his book, Never Split the Difference, I bought this book hoping it would expand on some of its topics.

This book has 30 chapters, each one a different story from a different professional. Chris and his son Brandon each have a chapter and outside of theirs, I fortunately was able to take some info that I hope to put into use from a few of the other chapters and contributors. Unfortunately though, many of the chapters are people who seem to be more or less touting their accomplishments and saying that empathy helped them get there, but say very little, if anything, in terms of how they put it in action.

Again, fortunately I was able to take some tips from the book but unfortunately, it largely didn’t meet the expectations I had going into it as a whole.

[Steven Castellanos · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is no novel approach, tactic, or even a framework explained that wasn't already thoroughly explored and expanded upon in 'Never Split the Difference.' The Black Swan Group is owned by Chris Voss, and so while I like to think that the reason there is so little insight in the two most recent books that he has contributed to having publishing is due to how well he covered each topic in his seminal work, it is more likely the case that whatever remaining knowledge he has into negotiation is confined to his exclusive course and is too valuable to hand out. Or the more likely case, is too complex to and nuanced to simply give out the theory without dedicating practice to it.

[Luciano Lisiotti · Rating 1 out of 5]

First time I read a really crappy book

I am a fan of Chris Voss and I won’t stop purchasing or consuming his material because of this. I just think he made a bad choice joining to write this book together with other people.

[Dan Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm super disappointed with this book. i was looking for a lot more than put together stories. Certainly still had some good advice and stories.