Chris Voss’s Career in High-Stakes Negotiation

Christopher Voss is a leading authority on the art, science, and practice of negotiation. During his twenty-four years of service with the Federal Bureau of Investigation—many of them spent as the bureau’s lead international kidnapping negotiator—Chris engaged with some of the world’s most dangerous criminals in some of the most high-pressure situations imaginable.

Born in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Chris earned his bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and a master’s in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Chris’s federal law enforcement career began when he became a SWAT officer at the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office. While stationed in New York, Chris rose through the ranks of FBI hostage negotiators, eventually becoming a lead crisis negotiator and a key player in the New York City Joint Terrorism Task Force.

In 2008, Chris transitioned to the private sector, founding the Black Swan Group. He has also taken his knowledge into the classroom as an adjunct professor of business negotiations at both the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. In 2016, he published the bestselling book, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It.

Chris Voss began his federal law enforcement career as a SWAT officer at the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office. Determined to join the bureau’s elite hostage negotiating team, he spent five months as a volunteer at a suicide prevention hotline and honed his powers of persuasion. He eventually rose to the position of lead crisis negotiator out of the FBI’s New York station, playing a key role in the New York City Joint Terrorism Task Force.

From there, Chris’s focus became international in scope. After working as an international hostage negotiator for the bureau, Chris retired in 2007. A year later, he founded the Black Swan Group, a negotiation training and consulting firm dedicated to teaching people how to engage in a successful negotiation. The Black Swan Group bases its pedagogy on the same strategies and counterintuitive tactics that Chris cultivated through his own experience.

In 2008, Chris transitioned to the private sector, founding the Black Swan Group. “Black swans” are pieces of innocuous information that can change the course of an entire negotiation if they come to light. As founder and CEO of the Black Swan Group, Chris draws from his wealth of knowledge and experience to train businesses and individuals to become highly effective negotiators in their own right.

The firm empowers business executives, public servants, and other individuals with a crucial set of tools and negotiation skills that enable them to lobby for themselves effectively.

In 2016, Chris parlayed his years of high-stakes hostage negotiation experience into a bestselling nonfiction self-help book, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It (published by Harper Business Books). Alongside co-author Tahl Raz (an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author), Chris shares effective principles and negotiation strategies to help readers gain the upper hand in any negotiation, no matter the situation or stakes.

In this Wall Street Journal bestseller, Chris also recounts his harrowing experiences from his law enforcement career (such as dealing with kidnappers and bank robberies gone wrong), sharing how he used his effective negotiation tactics to save lives. Chris gleans various valuable lessons from these experiences and translates them into helpful interpersonal tactics.

Some of the principles covered in the book include asking calibrated questions, using emotional intelligence, engaging in tactical empathy, and keeping a positive frame of mind. These techniques work to help readers empower themselves and remain resilient even in the most seemingly dire of circumstances.

In addition to his work with the Black Swan Group, Chris has translated his expertise in navigating pressure-filled situations into a career in academia. He has held adjunct professorships in business negotiations at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

Chris has also lectured on business negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Learn more about negotiation strategies and communication skills from Career FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss. Perfect tactical empathy, develop intentional body language, and get better results every day with the MasterClass Annual Membership.