BUSINESS

Negotiation expert Kwame Christian is on a mission to change the world

Erica Thompson
The Columbus Dispatch
Kwame Christian, an attorney and founder of the American Negotiation Institute, in the Columbus office where he records his popular podcasts.

Prior to the social justice protests of 2020, Kwame Christian was burned out on discussions of race.

The attorney had hit an emotional wall after doing policy work at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. He stopped watching the news and blocked anyone having race-related discussions on his Facebook timeline.

But in June 2020, at his wife’s insistence, he put his conflict-resolution skills to use by hosting a public Zoom town hall titled “How to have difficult conversations about race.” Over 1,000 people from all over the world attended the event, which stretched on for three and a half hours.

Christian was reinvigorated.

More:Ohio State Bar Foundation donates $500,000 to advance racial justice

Today, coaching companies on how to talk about race is part of Christian’s work as founder and managing director of the American Negotiation Institute, based in Upper Arlington. Founded in 2016, the firm provides negotiation, conflict resolution and leadership training to companies throughout the U.S. and beyond.

Christian’s goal is to transform as many lives as possible through the organization, which recently generated $1 million in revenue.

“The best things in life are on the other side of difficult conversations,” said Christian, 33, of Dublin, who also works for the Carlile Patchen & Murphy law firm. “That's our motto. I'm very unashamed with saying that the goal is to change the world.”

American Negotiation Institute expects to have a staff of 29 by the end of February. Its diverse clients have even included the Defense Acquisition University, a school within the U.S. Department of Defense, and NASA. The company also has mediated a race-related dispute between a local police department and a Black family in the community.

Christian said his team partnered with the United Nations to start a peace-building program in Lagos, which teaches Nigerian youths how to use negotiation and conflict resolution to change their communities.

Christian’s confidence and persuasion skills weren’t built overnight. In fact, he describes himself as a former “recovering people-pleaser” who first learned about the possibilities of negotiation as a field through a course at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law.

“It was the first time that I realized that having difficult conversations is a skill, not a talent,” said Christian, who went on to represent Ohio State in negotiation competitions. “I thought I either had it or I didn't. It was empowering.”

Finding Confidence in Conflict

In addition to his law degree, Christian has a master’s degree in public policy from Ohio State’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs.

As he embarked on a career in negotiation consulting, he quickly realized how much he stood out.

“Everybody looks very different from me,” he said. “I am young and Black. The majority of other experts are older and white. I realize now it as a self-limiting belief, but I was saying, ‘People aren't going to take me seriously yet.'”

More:Facing racism and assumptions: Black women lawyers still often the 'only' one in the room

His first step was to launch a negotiation podcast, now branded as “Negotiate Anything.” As a business attorney, he originally thought his audience would consist primarily of entrepreneurs, but he quickly built a following of individuals from all walks of life.

Having generated 5 million downloads by listeners in 180 different countries, it is the number-one negotiation podcast in the world, Christian said. He now manages two additional podcasts, “Ask with Confidence,” geared toward women and hosted by Maria Eaton, and a Spanish-language podcast, "Negociación desde Cero," hosted by Símon Perez. 

Christian also is a Forbes contributor and LinkedIn Learning Instructor. He published his first book, “Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life,” in 2020. His next book, “How to Have Difficult Conversations about Race,” is due this year.

“It explores the psychological challenges that people have and gives them the tools and strategies and techniques to have the conversations,” Christian said. “You have to have an understanding of the social and racial challenges that we face and the unique impact that has on our psychology.”

Kwame Christian, founder of American Negotiation Institute, is the first Ohio State University alumnus  to receive Young Alumni awards from both the Moritz College of Law and John Glenn College of Public Affairs.

Christian has carved out a unique path for an attorney, and many were skeptical—including former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown, who met Christian before he started law school.

“I couldn't see it,” said McGee Brown, 61, of Gahanna, who now works as partner-in-charge of diversity, inclusion and advancement at Cleveland-based law firm Jones Day. “I was like, ‘Kwame, are you really sure this is where you want to go?’ But he was so focused, and he's really done extraordinarily well. He's done the extra work to get training to understand the different approaches. I don't know that there are a lot of people who would've sacrificed a big firm job or some prestigious government position to pursue something like this where there really was no roadmap.”

Recently, Christian became the first alumnus to received Young Alumni awards from both the Moritz College of Law and John Glenn College of Public Affairs. His former mentor, attorney Mark Decker, was present at one of the ceremonies.

“I was just very proud of him,” said Decker, 73, of Pickerington, who recently retired from Decker Vonau & Carr in Downtown Columbus. “I think he's found his niche. He's excited by it, and he's driven. He's definitely what people call a rainmaker.”

Christian became emotional when reflecting on his journey.

“I chose to grind for a long time,” he said. “It was tough to convince my wife and family that I was doing it the right way. It took some time being humble and experimenting and failing over and over again, but it was worth it.”

ethompson@dispatch.com

@miss_ethompson

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