How to join us
The Hostage at the Table:
George Kohlrieser was a hostage negotiator before becoming an organisational and clinical psychologist and leadership consultant. In this book he brings these areas of expertise together to discuss how hostage negotiating skills can be used to manage business conflicts and improve performance. Kohlrieser mixes stories of hostage situations and other anecdotes with the use of hostages as a metaphor: becoming a hostage to one's emotions or to other people's expectations. He suggests tactics for dealing with difficult situations, including bonding (even with people you don't like), achieving real and effective dialogues, and mastering one's emotions to control instinctive reactions and allow rational decision-making to take over.
The stories told are interesting and often inspirational: some hostage-related, some dealing with organisations, and some more general, such as the story of the little girl whose physical illness was cured when her emotional problems were discovered (her pet pig had been killed and eaten). The focus is on personal development, becoming aware of oneself and making changes, and on ways to persuade and influence others. Although equally applicable to life in general, here Kohlrieser focuses on its many organisational uses, such as the ways in which good communication can facilitate negotiations between colleagues and between employees and managers.
The skills he teaches are essentially leadership skills, particularly those which deal with influencing others: these are of course precisely the skills needed in hostage situations, and Kohlrieser makes the point that in order to get people to do what you want them to, you must understand their point of view, bond with them and treat them as human beings, while controlling your own reactions in ways that may be counter-intuitive.
This is a useful book written in a narrative, explanatory style, which will help readers to gain more awareness of the way in which they interact with others and to use that knowledge to develop their negotiating and leadership skills.