SELLEST OSAST
In this powerful conversation, I sit down with William Ury, one of the world’s leading experts on negotiation, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding.
William co-founded the Program on Negotiation at Harvard and co-authored Getting to Yes, one of the most influential books ever written on negotiation. He has spent more than 40 years mediating and advising some of the world’s most difficult conflicts. His work has profoundly influenced me, including his book Getting to Peace, which inspired my first podcast, the Peacebuilding Podcast.
In this episode, we go much deeper than negotiation tactics. Together, we explore The Third Side—an idea that while it takes two sides to fight, it takes a third side to help stop the conflict. We talk about why humans may be more collaborative than we realize, the power of listening and slowing down, how circles can create containers for productive conflict, the special role women can play as “third siders,” and how every conflict conversation is also a cultural act: a choice about the kind of world we want to create.
We also confront some of the biggest challenges of our moment—from AI and climate change to the broader polycrisis threatening our collective future.
About William Ury:
William Ury’s passion is helping people, organizations, and nations get to yes. His training is in anthropology, his practice is in mediation, and his mission is peace. He is one of the world’s best-known experts on negotiation, and author of Getting to Yes and most recently of POSSIBLE: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict. Ury has served as a negotiation adviser and mediator in conflicts ranging from coal mine strikes to family feuds to wars in the Middle East, Colombia, Korea, and Ukraine. Ury lives in Colorado where he loves to hike in the mountains.
More from William Ury:
Website: https://www.williamury.com/
More from Susan Coleman:
Website: https://www.susancoleman.global/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/susanwcoleman
Substack: https://substack.com/@susancolemanglobal
Facebook: https://facebook.com/susancolemanglobal
Instagram: https://instagram.com/susanwcoleman
Purchase the book, Collaborative Hardball: Using the Power of a New Negotiation as Women to Change the World https://a.co/d/08AWQWsC
Produced by: Rome Esmaili
