Empathy at the Table™: Real Conversations with People who Negotiate Every Day

From Thomas Erikson (Surrounded by Idiots, 10M+ copies sold) to Fotini Iconomopoulos (#15 global negotiation expert) to European voices like Keld Jensen, Empathy at the Table™ explores negotiation, leadership and emotional intelligence through real conversations.Hosted by Tony Anagor, founder of the Institute of Leadership and Negotiation (ILN). New here? Start with our episode with Thomas Erikson, author of Surrounded by Idiots.

Empathy at the Table™: Real Conversations with People who Negotiate Every Day is a business podcast hosted by Tony Anagor, with 74 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Tony Anagor hosts Empathy at the Table™: Real Conversations with People who Negotiate Every Day, a business show with 74 episodes published.

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  Episode #74

  Why Ignored Feelings Always Come Out Sideways | Sheila Heen

  Oct 6, 202649 minS3

  Sheila Heen teaches negotiation at Harvard Law School and is co-author of the bestselling book Difficult Conversations. In this episode, she joins Tony Anagor to explain why the feelings we don't talk about never actually disappear, they just come out sideways, through sarcasm, withdrawal or passive aggression. You'll learn: Why every difficult conversation is really two problems, not one The three conversations happening in your head before you even speak: facts, feelings and identity Why fault is the wrong question, and what joint contribution means instead Why saying no is hard, and it has nothing to do with the word itself Sheila Heen co-founded Triad Consulting Group and co-authored Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most with Douglas Stone and Bruce Patton. Find Sheila: triadconsultinggroup.com 0:00 Welcome: introducing Sheila Heen 1:10 From Nebraska to Harvard: how Sheila found negotiation 3:20 The childhood goal that shaped her career 6:54 Redefining negotiation beyond the boardroom 9:45 Ignored feelings come out sideways 12:00 The two problems hiding in every difficult conversation 13:36 Why not having the conversation wastes more time 14:31 The three conversations: facts, feelings, identity 19:18 The trouble with the word fault 21:17 Shifting from blame to joint contribution 23:50 Why saying no is so hard 27:02 How neuroscience changed negotiation in 20 years 31:02 Why she wrote Difficult Conversations 34:38 What Getting to Yes was missing 35:26 Deciding which difficult conversations are worth having 39:06 Being right vs solving the problem 44:34 What Sheila is working on now 48:19 Closing thoughts

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  Episode #73

  Why Founders Struggle to Lead: Leadership, Negotiation & the Founder Bottleneck with Jason Gore

  Sep 22, 202646 minS3

  Why do founders struggle to lead as their companies grow? Jason Gore, leadership coach and negotiation expert, joins Tony Anagor to explore founder psychology, delegation, emotional intelligence, negotiation, and the leadership behaviours that shape growing teams. From the pressure of scaling a company to high-stakes negotiation, Jason explains why founders have to learn to let go, how childhood experiences can influence leadership, and why practising in low-stakes conversations can change how we perform when the stakes are high. They also explore Jason’s Saturn Leadership Index, a framework built around 51 observable leadership behaviours, and what it really takes to build alignment without losing connection. resources Jason Gore's Website Saturn Leadership Index Assessment LinkedIn Twitter

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  Episode #72

  Silence and Self Advocacy: Fotini Iconomopoulos | Empathy at the Table Ep. 72

  Sep 8, 202642 minS3

  Fotini Iconomopoulos, bestselling author of Say Less and ranked #15 in the world's Global Gurus negotiation list, joins us for a conversation about the discipline of restraint.In this episode, Fotini breaks down why the most powerful move in a negotiation is often silence, not more words. She shares the real story of confronting a manager over a pay gap, why she calls negotiation ‘a synonym for self advocacy,’ and the mental ‘pause button’ that stops her reacting in the heat of the moment.You'll learn:• Why saying less builds more credibility than filling silence• How to use someone's own words to hold them accountable• The ‘cookie’ trap: why buying likeability always backfires• Why self awareness, not tactics, is the real foundation of negotiationFotini grew up in a Greek immigrant household, was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and turned both into an edge at the negotiation table. This is a masterclass in staying composed under pressure.Find Fotini: @FotiniIcon on Instagram and LinkedIn, fotiniicon.comHer book: ‘Say Less: Get More with Unconventional Negotiation Techniques’ Empathy at the Table is hosted by Tony Anagor, founder of the Institute of Leadership and Negotiation (ILN).#Negotiation #EmotionalIntelligence #Leadership #EmpathyAtTheTable #FotiniIconomopoulos

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  Empathy at the Table™: Real Conversations with People who Negotiate Every Day

  Ep. 71: The Power of Stories in Negotiation, with Josh Weiss

  Jul 31, 202658 min

  Why do most of us keep making the same negotiation mistakes, even though we negotiate every day? In this episode, Tony Anagor sits down with negotiation expert Josh Weiss to unpack the three real purposes of negotiation, why storytelling might be the most underused tool in conflict resolution, and how emotional intelligence is what actually gets people to the table. Josh also introduces his Negotiation Stories project, a growing community built to collect and share real negotiation experiences from people at every level, not just the boardroom. This is our season finale before a short summer break — we'll be back in September with new episodes and guests. Thank you for listening this season. Resources: Negotiation Stories — negotiationstories.net Getting to Yes, by Roger Fisher & William Ury Harvard Negotiation Project — pon.harvard.edu Connect with Josh Weiss on LinkedIn.

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  Episode #69

  Episode 69: Thomas Erikson- Surrounded by Idiots, Self-Awareness, Behavioral Psychology & much more

  Jun 30, 20261h 2mS3

  In this episode of Empathy at The Table , we speak with Thomas Erikson, author of the global bestseller Surrounded by Idiots, a book that has sold nearly 10 million copies and been translated into over 70 languages.The conversation explores the foundations of human behavior, self-awareness, and communication through the lens of Erikson’s well-known behavioral model (red, yellow, green, blue). Rather than labeling personality types, the discussion focuses on observable behaviors and how misunderstanding them creates unnecessary friction in business, leadership, relationships, and everyday life.Thomas shares his personal journey from a struggling young manager to becoming one of the world’s most recognized voices in behavioral communication. He explains how self-awareness is not only about understanding yourself, but also how others perceive you , and why this gap is often the root of conflict.Thomas also challenges the idea that people can simply be “put in boxes,” arguing instead that behavioral models are tools to understand patterns and tendencies, not fixed identities.Website: https://www.surroundedbyidiots.com/en/#EmpathyAtTheTable #ThomasErikson #SelfAwareness #CommunicationSkills #Leadership

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