Empathy in Negotiation - A Lesson Through the Eyes of Others

A reflective conversation with Tony Powers on how empathy, bias awareness and perspective-taking improve judgement and decision-making in negotiations.   What We Explored in This Episode In this episode of The Negotiation Club Podcast, Philip Brown reconnects withTony Powers, a retired police officer and early participant in The Negotiation Club. Together, they reflect on Tony’s career journey... from policing to academia and property investment, and how those experiences have shaped his approach to negotiation. The conversation draws heavily on insights from legal and policing contexts, where judgement, perspective, and decision-making under pressure are critical.   How Bias Shapes Negotiation Decisions A central theme of the episode is how personal experience and unconscious bias can cloud judgement in negotiations. Tony shares reflections from police training and legal practice, highlighting how quickly assumptions can form, and how easily they can lead negotiators to overlook important information or alternative outcomes. The discussion emphasises the risk of negotiating from a single viewpoint, particularly when emotions or prior experience dominate interpretation.   Empathy as a Negotiation Tactic Philip and Tony explore empathy not as a soft concept, but as a deliberate negotiation tactic. Drawing on the Greek roots "Em and Pathy", they describe empathy as the discipline of seeing a situation through the eyes of others, without immediately agreeing or conceding. Used properly, this approach helps negotiators: Challenge their own assumptions Surface alternative perspectives Make more balanced, informed decisions   Turning Empathy into Practice The episode concludes with a discussion about developing an Empathy Negotiation Card, designed to help practitioners practise perspective-taking deliberately rather than relying on instinct alone. As a practical step, try slowing down your next negotiation and consciously articulating the situation from the other party’s perspective before responding. Notice how this affects both your judgement and your choices in real time.