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

About 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.

Publisher

Tony Anagor

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

23 Sept 2023

Latest episode

6 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

76 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Oct 2026

   Why Ignored Feelings Always Come Out Sideways | Sheila Heen

   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

2. 

   22 Sept 2026

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

   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 (https://jasongore.com) Saturn Leadership Index Assessment (https://jasongore.com/leadership) LinkedIn (https://linkedin.com/in/jasongore) Twitter (https://twitter.com/jasongore)

3. 

   8 Sept 2026

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

   Host Tony Anagor interviews bestselling author Fotini Iconomopoulos about how strategic silence and self-advocacy unlock powerful negotiation outcomes.

Who has been a guest on Empathy at the Table: Real Conversations with People who Negotiate Every Day

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Fotini Iconomopoulos
• Josh Weiss
• Danny Bobrow
• Thomas Erikson
• Joe Dillon

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 63 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

83

Social presence

90

YouTube

0

Engagement

60

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

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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