BIOGRAPHY
Richard Mullender is an expert hostage negotiator who has transferred his elite listening techniques to the corporate world, teaching organisations the art of listening and negotiation.
Richard worked as a London detective and hostage negotiator rising to become Lead Trainer at Scotland Yard’s National Hostage Negotiation and Crisis Unit.
Every day Richard taught experienced police officers to handle the toughest negotiations. But one day, as he watched his people negotiate, he realised they were falling short. Either they were lacking, or the training was. He decided it was the latter.
So Richard introduced an intensely practical approach to teaching life or death listening. By drawing on his experience of negotiating with the Taliban, dealing with extortion threats overseas and diffusing domestic sieges, Richard radically overhauled protocol at Scotland Yard.
Instead of training rookie hostage negotiators to listen purely for facts and emotions, he delved deeper. He taught them to identify motivators, values and levers. Right down to specific key words that are the most powerful indicators of states of mind. By turning information into intelligence, Richard’s team of negotiators learnt to understand the people they were talking to in a very short space of time. A life-saving skill when negotiating with hostage-takers or potential suicides.
Richard’s eminently practical approach impacted on the global scene too. Hugely influential bodies from the United Nations to the Federal Bureau of Investigation invited him to share insights with them.
For more information on Richard Mullender’s spaking fees, availability and topics, contact Leo von Bülow-Quirk at leo@vbqspeakers.com.
RICHARD MULLENDER: SPEAKER
Sharing his elite level listening skills through his talks and workshops, Richard helps audiences
- Understand the drivers behind clients’ and colleagues’ attitudes and behaviours.
- Uncover their true agendas.
- Use those unique insights to influence outcomes.