Sunday Collection: #5 Never Split the Difference

5 Books Every Black Man Should Read Before 25

Your free edition of The Sunday Collection. Download our iOS app to listen to audiobook summaries of some of our favorite books here.

Welcome to The Sunday Collection

Sundays are for books.

We’ll be highlighting a book or a collection of books we think will help you strive forward in life.

We’re starting with five books every black man should read before 25.

Our fourth book was on Ego is the Enemy; read it here.

Let’s continue.

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Book #5: Never Split the Difference, by Chris Voss

Why should young black men read this book?

For all the books in our collection, this book will directly make you more money after you finish reading it and apply its teaching.

Never Split the Difference takes us through the stories and tactics of negotiation from a former FBI agent.

He breaks down how to get what you want for what you want.

It's as simple as this:

Create rapport, build trust, overdeliver, and use weapon-grade empathy.

Build a dialog that moves towards your shared goal of closing the deal.

When the point of tension is hit, this is where you build trust and carefully recite what they're trying to say in your own words.

Being radically open to different perspectives can defuse those attempting to make you lose your composure.

Remember, negotiation is everywhere.

All commerce is a negotiation for an agreed-upon price.

All relationships are a negotiation.

All of your jobs, college debt, or even time you decide to be on Instagram instead of working.

All have tradeoffs.

But if you can leverage your empathy, invert the blame from either party and play it by needs.

What’s the Takeaway?

Quick story.

While working freelance work as a software engineer, a friend of mine and I were approached to build out some software.

I was fresh off reading Never Split the Difference and began to implement these tactics in a real negotiation.

We had settled on a range, and I successfully bumped up the price by ~30% just based on conversations.

We both signed the contract, with all parties feeling as though they've signed a fair deal.

The takeaway is simple.

Be vigilant in listening.

Use empathy as a swiss army knife.

Tell people what you want.

Seek understanding.

Don't be afraid to say no.

When you make value-based decisions, you put your foot down when a red line is crossed.

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Hey guys, thanks so much for reading. If you want to read more about Never Split the Difference or find our audio summary of the book exclusively in our iOS app, check out the links below ⬇️

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Listen to our Audio Book Summary of Never Split the Difference (2m 42s Listen) | iOS App

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Buy Never Split the Difference (487m Listen | 260 Pages)

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