1/26/10

Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone

Mark Goulston, M.D.

Show Description:

It’s a universal source of frustration, experienced by everyone in business, from senior executives to frontline service providers, and everyone who’s in a relationship.  We all know what it’s like to need to get through to someone, to try everything—logic, flattery, forcefulness, pleading, screaming—only to keep hitting a brick wall.

Over his career as an organizational consultant, relationship counselor, and hostage-negotiation trainer, Mark Goulston has found what works, consistently, to reach all kinds of people in any type of situation.  He discovered that the counter-intuitive step of listening is the real key to getting through.  As he explains, his methods succeed because they create traction, rather than resistance.  “That is,” as Dr. Goulston simply puts it, “they pull people toward me, even if those people are trying to pull away.”

In JUST LISTEN: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone, Dr. Goulston shares his trusted collection of communication techniques and the secret to their incredible effectiveness. In an engaging, conversational style, Dr. Goulston sums up the science of how the brain goes from “no” to “yes.”  As he makes clear, the way to achieve “buy in” from anybody who’s feeling angry, defiant, or threatened is to talk directly to his or her “upper brain”—the part that separates rational human beings from the emotional thinking of mammals and the fight-or-flight processes of reptiles.  Backed by clinical findings and real-life experiences, Dr. Goulston reveals how to overcome a person’s resistance (even when it’s fueled by outrage) by understanding and responding to his or her hunger for approval.  As Dr. Goulston demonstrates through a wide range of workplace and relationship-related scenarios, mirroring what others are feeling naturally works wonders to break down their mental barriers and open the way to winning their attention, trust, cooperation, and loyalty.

http://www.justlisenthebook.com

Guest Bio:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Goulston is a psychiatrist, business consultant, executive coach, and a hostage-negotiation trainer for the FBI.  A best-selling author whose books include Get Out of Your Own Way and Get Out of Your Own Way at Work, he writes an Internet column on leadership for Fast Company as well as a syndicated column, “Solve Anything with Dr. Mark,” for Tribune Media Services.  Frequently called upon to share his expertise with the media, he has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Newsweek, Time, and Reuters; has offered commentary on NPR, CNN, and Fox News; and has appeared on “Oprah” and “The TODAY Show.”  He lives in Los Angeles, California.