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

How do trust, respect and conflict change when you move between cultures? Ife Dare-Johnson, founder and CEO of Healthtracka and MIT Sloan Fellow, has lived and worked in Nigeria, the UK and the US. She talks with Tony Anagor about what each culture taught her about negotiating, leading and saying what you really mean.Ife started Healthtracka in 2021 after losing her father to an illness that could have been treated if it had been caught early. She shares how she tested the idea, why being an outsider in healthcare made her ask for help, and how she thinks about leadership in phases.In this episode:- Why Ife started Healthtracka, and how she checked people would pay for it- Being an outsider in healthcare, and finding the right people- Why Nigeria's entrepreneurial story is much older than its tech scene- How introductions and trust shape deals in Nigeria- Respecting people older than you when you are the boss- Why "interesting" and "not very happy" can hide real problems- Leading in phases, and the question "when is it enough?"- MIT, faith, and the year she thought she would not surviveEmpathy at the Table, Episode 75. The negotiation podcast hosted by Tony Anagor.Training and workshops: https://institute-ln.com

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 oneThe three conversations happening in your head before you even speak: facts, feelings and identityWhy fault is the wrong question, and what joint contribution means insteadWhy saying no is hard, and it has nothing to do with the word itselfSheila 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.com0:00 Welcome: introducing Sheila Heen1:10 From Nebraska to Harvard: how Sheila found negotiation3:20 The childhood goal that shaped her career6:54 Redefining negotiation beyond the boardroom9:45 Ignored feelings come out sideways12:00 The two problems hiding in every difficult conversation13:36 Why not having the conversation wastes more time14:31 The three conversations: facts, feelings, identity19:18 The trouble with the word fault21:17 Shifting from blame to joint contribution23:50 Why saying no is so hard27:02 How neuroscience changed negotiation in 20 years31:02 Why she wrote Difficult Conversations34:38 What Getting to Yes was missing35:26 Deciding which difficult conversations are worth having39:06 Being right vs solving the problem44:34 What Sheila is working on now48:19 Closing thoughts

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. resourcesJason Gore's Website Saturn Leadership Index AssessmentLinkedInTwitter

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

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.eduConnect with Josh Weiss on LinkedIn.