Anger. Neutrality. Empathy. Ep 208

In the latest episode of the Gym Secrets podcast, the host reflects on a recent conflict with an enraged vendor, drawing insights from a conversation with Dr. T. West, a psychologist experienced in crisis management. The host shares the wisdom imparted by Dr. West, emphasizing that anger signifies weakness, neutrality conveys strength, and empathy is the most powerful response in conflict resolution. The host applies these principles not only to customer relations but also to personal interactions, advocating for understanding and empathizing with others' perspectives to de-escalate conflicts and achieve a positive outcome.

• Speaker A reflects on a personal experience with conflict involving a vendor.
• The vendor accused Speaker A's company of intellectual property theft, which was unfounded.
• The conflict was intense, with the vendor being extremely angry and threatening.
• Speaker A sought advice from a friend with a psychology background and experience in crisis management.

"I wanted to make a little video for you, or podcast for you about a conflict that I recently encountered." Speaker A introduces the topic of the podcast, which is a recent conflict they experienced.

"I had a longtime vendor call up, enraged, I mean belligerent with rage." Speaker A describes the emotional state of the vendor during the conflict.

"We couldn't even get a word in edgewise, like literally, like shouting at the top of their voice, just calling us, like, 'I'm going to finish you.'" Speaker A provides details on how the vendor's anger manifested during the interaction, highlighting the intensity of the situation.

• Speaker A discusses the concept of anger as a form of weakness.
• Neutrality is presented as a form of strength in conflict situations.
• Empathy is considered the strongest response when dealing with conflict.
• The speaker's friend, a PhD in psychology, is described as someone with exceptional resilience and composure in high-stress situations.

"Anger is weakness. Neutrality is strength. Empathy is the strongest." Speaker A shares a philosophy on emotional responses and their relative effectiveness in managing conflict.

"He spent two years or three years being the frontline suicide hotline pickup person." Speaker A provides background on their friend's experience in crisis management, which is relevant to the advice sought on handling the conflict.

"He would probably just light a cigarette and be like, so what about this makes you feel powerful?" Speaker A uses a hypothetical scenario to illustrate their friend's calm and composed approach to threatening situations.

• The podcast is positioned as a resource for learning about customer acquisition, value maximization, and retention.
• Speaker A uses personal anecdotes to share lessons learned from failures and successes.
• The incident with the vendor serves as a case study for the podcast's audience.

"We talk about how to get more customers, how to make more per customer, and how to keep them longer, and the many failures and lessons that we have learned along the way." Speaker A outlines the core themes of the podcast, emphasizing the educational nature of the content.

"I hope you enjoy and subscribe." Speaker A invites listeners to engage with the podcast and become regular subscribers.

"What's going on, everyone? Hope you guys are having a phenomenal Friday." Speaker A greets the audience and sets a positive tone for the podcast episode.

• The conflict arose from a misunderstanding regarding intellectual property (IP).
• The vendor incorrectly believed their IP was stolen by Speaker A's company.
• The IP in question was freely available on the internet, indicating a lack of basis for the vendor's claim.

"They thought that we had stole some sort of ip from them. And it was something that it was literally free on the Internet that they were giving away." Speaker A explains the misunderstanding at the heart of the conflict, highlighting the vendor's mistake in accusing them of theft.

• Speaker A reaches out to their psychologist friend for advice on handling the enraged vendor.
• The friend's expertise in dealing with extreme emotional states is seen as valuable.
• The conversation with the friend likely provided Speaker A with strategies to resolve the conflict.

"So I called my friend up and I was like, what do you say in these situations? How do you deal with this?" Speaker A describes seeking guidance from a friend with relevant expertise in managing conflicts and emotional crises.

• Conflict arises in various interactions, including with employees and prospects.
• Physical reactions such as adrenaline and cortisol are common during conflict.
• Maintaining composure and not escalating the situation is crucial.

"And so he said something to me that was really simple and profound. He's like, if you have a gun pointed at you, this is the frame."

This quote highlights the use of a metaphor for high-stress situations, implying that the speaker's actual situation was not as dire as it felt, which provided perspective.

"There's three frames, right? He's like, anger is weakness. He's like, neutrality is strength. Empathy is the strongest."

The speaker summarizes the advice given to them, which categorizes responses to conflict into three frames: anger, neutrality, and empathy, with empathy being identified as the strongest stance.

• The speaker identifies themselves as someone who typically escalates conflicts.
• They express pride in successfully maintaining neutrality and asking clarifying questions instead of escalating.

"I was actually super proud of myself for not escalating this conversation and trying to maintain neutrality and ask questions like, what do you mean by that? I don't understand."

The quote reflects the speaker's self-awareness and personal growth in handling conflict by staying neutral and seeking understanding rather than reacting defensively.

• Rapport is crucial in winning over others, especially in sales.
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of caring about the buyer's interests to gain an advantage.
• True empathy towards others is seen as a means to establish the strongest position in any interaction.

"The person who cares the most about the buyer's interest wins the frame, right? Which is another way of saying, if you can truly empathize, empathize, care about the other person, understand where they are coming from, you have the strongest frame. You will always win."

This quote encapsulates the speaker's belief that genuine empathy and prioritizing the buyer's interests are key to succeeding in sales and, by extension, in any interpersonal exchange.

• Visual aids such as effects, visuals, and graphs can stimulate different brain centers.
• The speaker has a YouTube channel offering free content with visual enhancements for those who prefer that mode of learning.

"You can check out my YouTube channel. It's absolutely free. Go check that out if that's what you are into."

This quote emphasizes the availability of a free resource that incorporates visual aids to cater to different learning preferences.

• The speaker is actively trying to rewire their brain to handle conflict more effectively.
• The goal was initially to remain neutral during conflicts, but the concept of empathy was introduced as a stronger approach.
• Empathy involves understanding the other person's feelings and perspective, especially when they are unreasonable.

"But he just escalated the game for me. He was like, oh, no, empathy is the strongest frame."

This quote reflects a shift in the speaker's strategy for handling conflict, moving from neutrality to empathy as a more powerful tool.

• Empathy is recognized as a more effective response than neutrality in conflicts.
• The speaker reflects on the importance of considering the other person's background and experiences.
• Understanding the other person's perspective requires setting aside one's own reasoning to avoid escalating the situation.

"And let me put myself in their shoes with their experiences, their background, the things that they're projecting onto the situation."

This quote highlights the importance of empathy by putting oneself in another's shoes to understand their reasoning and de-escalate conflicts.

• Dr. T. West has extensive experience in conflict resolution, specifically with individuals in extreme distress, such as those contemplating suicide.
• The speaker reflects on a conversation with Dr. T. West and emphasizes the importance of not taking things personally in conflict situations.
• Approaching people with understanding and care, even more than they have for themselves, can lead to winning the frame in a conversation.
• The concept of caring more about the other party is applicable not just in sales, but in all interpersonal interactions.

And this is just kind of like the summarized short version of the conversation that I had with my friend and the PhD, the doctor, Dr. T. West.

This quote summarizes the speaker's interaction with Dr. T. West and sets the stage for the lessons learned from that conversation.

Like he was just talking people off bridges, talking people who are drunk, who have no reasoning power.

The speaker highlights Dr. T. West's experience in dealing with people in critical and highly emotional states, indicating the level of expertise in conflict resolution.

And if we can approach prospects like that and not be offended and think, no, this isn't, I think at the base level, we get offended because we make it about us.

The speaker suggests that taking offense in conflict situations often stems from personalizing the issue, which is counterproductive.

And if we can kind of live in their little world, then we can ultimately win the frame by having the highest amount of care for them and care even more for them than they do.

This quote emphasizes the strategy of deeply empathizing with the other person to gain an advantage in the conversation by showing greater concern for their well-being.

• Sales concepts, particularly those related to understanding and caring for the buyer, are effective in various real-world situations.
• The speaker believes that this ideology can improve interactions with different individuals, including vendors and family members.

I think I'm taking sales ideology and applying it to the real world, and it works.

The speaker expresses confidence in the applicability of sales principles to everyday life, suggesting a broader utility beyond just business contexts.

• Expressing anger is seen as a weakness and a loss of control in a conversation or negotiation.
• Maintaining neutrality and empathy is considered a position of strength.
• The speaker finds the realization that empathizing with others leads to winning conversations to be personally impactful.

Anger is weakness. So whenever you express anger, you lose the frame automatically. Right. Unless you have a gun. Right. But you lose the frame.

The speaker shares a personal takeaway that showing anger is detrimental to maintaining control in a conversation, except in extreme situations of power imbalance.

If you can just be neutral, you are much stronger than somebody who's angry.

This quote reinforces the idea that emotional neutrality is a stronger position than anger in a dispute.

And if you can truly empathize with the person, then you always win the conversation.

The speaker concludes that genuine empathy is the key to success in conversations, as it allows one to connect with and understand the other party's perspective.

• The speaker wishes the audience a successful day, particularly in sales and closing deals.
• The message ends on a positive note, encouraging the audience to have a phenomenal Friday.

I hope you guys have a phenomenal Friday. You're closing sales and have an amazing day.

This sign-off wishes the audience success and positivity, particularly in the context of sales, which is a recurring theme in the speaker's message.