Introduction
Stan Christensen is a Consulting Professor at Stanford University. He started his career working in corporate finance, then as a negotiation advisor with the consulting arm of The Harvard Negotiation Project. In this capacity he traveled to over 75 countries and worked with corporations and governments, negotiating transactions and mediating conflicts.
Topics to discuss
✅ Trust-building in professional relationships.
✅ Transparency in high-stakes negotiations.
✅ Cultural diversity in trust-building.
✅ Building credibility in new environments.
✅ Negotiations as ongoing processes.
✅ Tips for questioning assumptions.
✅ Effective signals for active listening.
✅ Repairing compromised trust.
Potential questions
1. How do you prioritize trust-building in your professional relationships, given your extensive experience in negotiation and conflict mediation?
2. In your experience, what role does transparency play in developing trust, particularly in high-stakes transactions and negotiations?
3. Can you share an experience where maintaining trust was crucial to the success of a negotiation or conflict resolution process?
4. How do you navigate cultural differences and build trust when working with diverse stakeholders from various countries and backgrounds?
5. As someone who has transitioned between different sectors and roles, how do you establish credibility and build trust in new environments?
6. In your The Art of Negotiation speech for Entrepreneurship.org, you said, “I think that almost all negotiations in life are repeats. They're serial. You're going to see the people you negotiate with more than once. Yet almost everybody negotiates as if it's a one-time deal. In fact, you would probably negotiate very differently if you knew you were going to see people again.” How do you think understanding negotiations as ongoing processes might change the way we communicate and build relationships?
7. This quote from you can be very useful for our audience, “People ask me what's the secret of successful communication. I say that it’s recognizing the assumptions that you make and being open to questioning them.” Can you give some practical tips for someone who wants to get better at questioning assumptions in their communication?
8. Your quote that struck a chord with me is, “Think about communication as convincing the other side that you can hear them and that they are being heard.” Are there specific signals — verbal or nonverbal — that you find especially effective in showing someone they're being heard?
9. Can you share any strategies or techniques you've found particularly effective in repairing trust when it has been compromised during negotiations or conflicts?
Please note
Our podcast is similar to the live discussion, so there may be more questions depending on the answers.
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