Logic and Trust in Professional Settings

How logic killed my first negotiation (and what I learned). I blew it. My first negotiation was a complete disaster. I walked in armed with every stat, every fact, and every logical argument I could find. I had spreadsheets, data points, and bulletproof reasoning. I thought I was ready. Turned out, I wasn’t. Here’s what happened: I was so focused on proving I was “right” that I completely ignored the other side’s emotions. - I brushed aside their emotional cues - I didn’t notice the frustration in their tone. - I missed the discomfort in their body language. And I just kept hammering them with logic. So, what happened? I didn’t just lose the deal. I lost their trust. That was the first and last time I ever let logic take the wheel. Here’s what I learned (the hard way): Negotiation isn’t just about facts. It’s about people. And people are emotional. If you rely only on logic, you’ll: - Miss the real signals: Emotions tell you what data can’t. - Lose trust: People connect with empathy, not numbers. - Hurt relationships: Negotiations are long-term games, not one-off wins. The best negotiators know how to balance logic with emotional intelligence. So, don't make the mistake I made and do this every time you're negotiating: 1. Show empathy: Acknowledge their feelings, even if you disagree. 2. Listen to emotions: What’s not being said matters just as much as what is. 3. Regulate your emotions: Stay calm and in control when things heat up. Now, every time I negotiate, I prepare for the emotional game. Not just the logical one. The result? - Better deals. - Stronger partnerships. - And trust that lasts beyond the handshake. Let’s talk about how you can master both sides of negotiation: logic and emotion. Just send me a DM. ----------------------------------- Hi, I’m Scott Harrison and I help executive and leaders master negotiation & communication in high-pressure, high-stakes situations.  - ICF Coach and EQ-i Practitioner - 24 yrs | 19 countries | 150+ clients   - Negotiation | Conflict resolution | Closing deals 📩 DM me or book a discovery call (link in the Featured section)

Are You Letting Logic Get in the Way of Leadership? As CEOs of privately held NYC companies, we pride ourselves on being rational, analytical, and focused. But have you ever noticed how, in the name of logic, we sometimes dismiss emotions—our own or others’? This is the work of what Positive Intelligence calls the Hyper-Rational Saboteur. It thrives when we overvalue facts and figures at the expense of connection and collaboration. But here’s the truth: great leadership requires both logic and emotion. Here are five steps to overcome the Hyper-Rational Saboteur and lead with greater impact: 1️⃣ Catch the Saboteur in Action Start with awareness. Are you prioritizing facts over human connection? 2️⃣ Engage in Mindfulness (PQ Reps) Pause. Breathe. Ground yourself in the present to quiet the overthinking. 3️⃣ Reframe Logic vs. Emotion Emotions are data too. Balance decisions with both facts and feelings. 4️⃣ Name the Feelings Labeling emotions like “I feel frustrated” or “I feel excited” creates clarity and builds empathy. 5️⃣ Practice Empathy Listen without judgment. Acknowledge emotions to build trust and collaboration. Leadership isn’t just about making the right call; it’s about creating an environment where your team feels valued, heard, and inspired. Let’s stop letting the Hyper-Rational Saboteur lead us. Embrace both sides of leadership—logic AND emotion. That’s where the magic happens. #VistageNYC #PositiveIntelligence "Where Manhattan CEOs go to grow."

As leaders, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea that logic is king. While logic might influence decisions, it’s emotion that lights the fire. Too many leaders think our well-reasoned arguments will be enough to motivate someone to work harder, stay late, or push through a challenge - But that’s not how people operate. People act when something triggers them emotionally. Keep this in mind: 1. Logic Engages the Mind, But Emotion Engages the Heart. - Logic drives clarity and focus. It helps people understand the ‘why’ behind a decision. Without it, your team will be wandering around in the dark - It’s your blueprint. - Emotion on the other hand, is what fuels real action. It’s what makes someone decide they’ll put in the extra effort, even when the task feels impossible. These two work together, but one without the other is useless. 2. Influence Through Logic - Drive Action Through Emotion When leading your team, create a balance between logical influence and emotional impact. Here's how you can do that: - Start with logic. People do need to understand your vision. They need to see where you're going and why it makes sense. Be clear, specific, and data-driven. - Follow with emotion. Once your team gets the “why” on a rational level, now it's time to connect on a personal level. That’s when you need to engage their emotions, their purpose, and their internal drivers. How does this work impact them? Their families? Their community? Their personal growth? 3. Lead With Authenticity - People Can Smell B.S. a Mile Away You can’t fake emotional connection. If you’re not genuinely invested in the people you lead, they’ll know. Emotional connection comes from being authentic - being real. It means admitting when you’re uncertain or when you’ve made a mistake. People don’t follow titles—they follow people they trust. 4. Tap Into Their Why - Connect Company Goals With Personal Goals Every single person on your team has their own personal “why.” If you can connect your company’s vision with their individual goals, you’ll create a team that’s not just motivated - they’re unstoppable. Here’s where you need to dig deeper as a leader. Ask yourself: - What drives each individual on my team? - What are their personal and professional goals? How do they define those goals? - How does their role here align with their own objectives? When you can show someone how their work directly contributes to something that matters to them, or gets them one step closer, that’s when they’ll choose to give their best. 5. Celebrate Wins - Big and Small Emotion isn’t just about rallying the team in tough times. It’s also about celebrating wins, no matter how small. Acknowledging progress is key to keeping the emotional momentum going. Here’s a key parting thought to remember: Logic Gets You Buy In - Emotion Drives Execution #awaken #leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #leader #emotional #influence #ceo #entrepreneur #hr #humanresources #logic #trust

I once worked with a team that was, quite frankly, toxic. The same two team members routinely derailed meeting agendas. Eye-rolling was a primary form of communication. Side conversations overtook the official discussion. Most members had disengaged, emotionally checking out while physically present. Trust was nonexistent. This wasn't just unpleasant—it was preventing meaningful work from happening. The transformation began with a deceptively simple intervention: establishing clear community agreements. Not generic "respect each other" platitudes, but specific behavioral norms with concrete descriptions of what they looked like in practice. The team agreed to norms like "Listen to understand," "Speak your truth without blame or judgment," and "Be unattached to outcome." For each norm, we articulated exactly what it looked like in action, providing language and behaviors everyone could recognize. More importantly, we implemented structures to uphold these agreements. A "process observer" role was established, rotating among team members, with the explicit responsibility to name when norms were being upheld or broken during meetings. Initially, this felt awkward. When the process observer first said, "I notice we're interrupting each other, which doesn't align with our agreement to listen fully," the room went silent. But within weeks, team members began to self-regulate, sometimes even catching themselves mid-sentence. Trust didn't build overnight. It grew through consistent small actions that demonstrated reliability and integrity—keeping commitments, following through on tasks, acknowledging mistakes. Meeting time was protected and focused on meaningful work rather than administrative tasks that could be handled via email. The team began to practice active listening techniques, learning to paraphrase each other's ideas before responding. This simple practice dramatically shifted the quality of conversation. One team member later told me, "For the first time, I felt like people were actually trying to understand my perspective rather than waiting for their turn to speak." Six months later, the transformation was remarkable. The same team that once couldn't agree on a meeting agenda was collaboratively designing innovative approaches to their work. Conflicts still emerged, but they were about ideas rather than personalities, and they led to better solutions rather than deeper divisions. The lesson was clear: trust doesn't simply happen through team-building exercises or shared experiences. It must be intentionally cultivated through concrete practices, consistently upheld, and regularly reflected upon. Share one trust-building practice that's worked well in your team experience. P.S. If you’re a leader, I recommend checking out my free challenge: The Resilient Leader: 28 Days to Thrive in Uncertainty  https://lnkd.in/gxBnKQ8n

Just wrapped an #offsite with a tech leadership team I’ve grown genuinely fond of working alongside over the past few years. 🌟What makes this group special? 🌟 They’ve mastered something rare: the ability to challenge one another fiercely while maintaining deep respect. That’s the conversational tightrope every executive team should walk—and most don’t. This week, we tackled what wasn’t working as a precursor to work around 2026 priorities. The hypothesis that surfaced? They’re well-liked but not consistently trusted by their direct reports. ‼️Here’s the thing: being liked is easy. Being trusted is everything‼️ Frances Frei’s research identifies three core drivers of trust: authenticity (people believe they’re interacting with the real you), logic (they have faith in your judgment and competence), and empathy (they believe you care about them). When trust erodes, it can almost always be traced back to a breakdown in one of these drivers. In the book and HBR piece “Leaders Can Move Fast and Fix Things,” Frei and Anne Morriss argue that leaders tackling significant challenges need to build more trust as they go—not despite the speed of change, but as an accelerator of it. This applies whether you’re new to your role or comfortably in seat. The trust equation doesn’t care about tenure. For this leadership team, the work ahead involves diagnosing their specific trust wobble. Is it empathy—do people believe these leaders care as much about their teams as they do about business outcomes? Is it authenticity—are they showing up as themselves or as carefully managed versions? Or is it logic—do their direct reports question their judgment on key decisions? The answer will be different for each leader. That’s the nuanced work of #executivecoaching. What’s your trust wobble? And more importantly, are you willing to identify it before your team does? #professionaldevelopment #leadership #coaching