On October 3rd, Elon Musk tweeted a proposal for peace between Russia and Ukraine, which included securing Crimea’s water supply, affirming that Crimea is Russian, and ensuring Ukraine remains neutral.
The Tweet was controversial, causing some, like Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, to accuse Musk of backing Russia in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Chris Voss, an ex FBI hostage negotiator and CEO of the Black Swan Group, said about Elon Musk’s Tweet, “I’m glad he did it.”
“I like that he did it because at least it starts a conversation in open public discourse,” he said. “The other good thing about a proposal that the other side is going to say no to, is that they’re more likely to counter with another sort of proposal.”
Voss, who has worked on over 150 international hostage cases, spoke with David Lin, Anchor and Producer at Kitco News, at the Future Blockchain Summit in Dubai.
Putin and Ukraine
If American and Russian diplomats were to meet to resolve the Ukraine conflict, the conversation would be “stupid,” said Voss.
“Nobody collaborates when it is a battle of arguments,” he stated. “Every politician that’s approaching Putin, shows up in his office, gets a meeting with him, and argues with him and tells him why he’s wrong. There isn’t anybody in there demonstrating understanding.”
The key to successful negotiation, said Voss, is empathy. He explained that since Russia has significant exports of oil and natural gas, this means that Putin is seeking his own country’s survival as the world transitions away from fossil fuels.
“Every country on earth is trying to get away from fossil fuels,” said Voss. “If I was a leader of [Russia], I would worry about how we don’t die in the dark and cold because we can no longer make a living and I can’t feed my people.” Although Voss does not agree with Putin’s approach to this problem, he added that “if I were faced with a future that was uncertain, I might take very defensive actions as well.”
Empathy and Negotiation
“For me to get you to listen to me, you have to feel listened to first, for you to be open to my perspective,” said Voss.
As an example, he recounted how he once had to speak to a “largely Arab and Asian” audience. Voss, an American, told the crowd, “You think Americans are loud, annoying, transactional, and don’t care about anybody but themselves.”
He saw a lot of heads nodding in agreement.
“I didn’t agree, I didn’t disagree,” he added. “But they’re a lot more open to talking to me at that point.”
“The definition of empathy is, I can state your position without agreeing with it, and without disagreeing with it,” he said. “I can just state what it is.”
To find out how Voss applies negotiation skills to real estate, watch the video above
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