In this episode of the It’s Not What It Seems podcast, I have a great conversation with Herb Cohen. Herb has spent a lifetime specializing in crisis management and corporate strategy. He’s negotiated everything from mergers and acquisitions to hostage and terrorist situations. He’s been an advisor to US presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. Bush, and Bill Clinton. His expertise assisted in resolving Iranian hostage crisis during the late 1970’s, which safely brought home 52 American citizens and diplomats. He participated in the original START Arms Control Negotiations with the Soviet Union, NFL Players strike of the 1980’s, and Gulf crisis of early 90’s.

He wrote the business classic You Can Negotiate Anything, which spent close to a year on the New York Times Bestseller list. It has since be translated into 30 languages. He’s been a guest on the Tonight Show, Good Morning America, Nightline, and the Larry King Show. He’s also been featured in TIME magazine, People, The Economist, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Esquire, Readers Digest, Good Housekeeping, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and Playboy Magazine. Playboy even dubbed him “The World’s Best Negotiator.”

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

- What we can learn about negotiation from kids (8:33)
- The three crucial variables of any negotiation (9:11)
- Why you shouldn’t care too much in a negotiation (16:04)
- The secret ingredient in any negotiation (20:40)
- Why specifically Herb got called into handle the Iranian Hostage Crisis (46:55)
- How to handle the “Soviet Style” of negotiation (49:30)

LINKS & RESOURCES:

Connect with Herb: http://herbcohenonline.com/

Read Herb’s book, You Can Negotiate Anything: http://bit.ly/NegotiateAnything

BOOKS FROM EPISODE:

Short Stories: Five Decades by Irwin Shaw (includes “The Eighty Yard Run,” a story that’s changed Herb Cohen’s thinking): http://bit.ly/ShortStoriesShaw

Would you like to see my book recommendations? Join my private reading list.

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