Episode 87: Ego, Authority, Failure - Special Guest: Derek Gaunt of the Black Swan Group

In today’s show, we are putting George Randle in your passenger seat to discuss his book, “Ego, Authority, Failure: Using Emotional Intelligence Like a Hostage Negotiator to Succeed as a Leader.” Derek Gaunt is a lecturer, author, and trainer with 29 years of law enforcement experience, 20 of which as a team member, leader and then commander of hostage negotiations teams in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. He is a hostage negotiation and incident command subject matter expert who frequently speaks at hostage negotiations and SWAT conferences across the country. Derek’s passion for interpersonal communications began when he was selected as a detective in the Criminal Investigations Section of a municipal police agency. He spent the majority of his law enforcement career in the Criminal Investigations Section as a detective, supervisor, and eventually commander of major crimes. In 1997, he took his passion for interpersonal communications to the next level, becoming a hostage negotiator. Once he became a supervisor, his passion transitioned from “doing” to teaching the concepts to others. As a member of the Black Swan Group, he is a negotiation trainer and personal coach. Derek has trained throughout the US and around the world, instructing business organizations on how to apply hostage negotiation practices and principles to their world. Derek presents seminars and in-house training programs in a variety of environments. Derek joins us today to apply the principles of hostage negotiation to the home services industry.