Matthias Schranner was once a police officer and negotiated for human lives with hostage-takers. After 17 years, he quit and founded his own company with the aim of bringing his knowledge to business and politics. Today, 50 people work for him in Zurich and others around the world. Schranner gives seminars and advises on large company takeovers and negotiations with states. These assignments keep him so busy that he sometimes dreams about them.

Mr. Schranner, what have you done recently?

I recently had a free morning in London. I walked around the city like a student, visited Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park. We've been very busy at our company over the past few weeks and months, and I'm currently very involved in two cases. In one case, we are currently negotiating with a state actor, but this government is corrupt. So we have to deal with the question of how we can still reach an agreement, which is not easy. The case will probably drag on for months.

In such situations, you are deployed as a negotiator. When are you usually called in?

Most companies only call when the house is on fire, i.e. too late. Most companies or governments go into negotiations with a plan A, a plan B and a plan C. But in the end, none of the options work. In the end, however, none of the options work out and then the phone rings. The advantage of this is that everyone has to play with open cards. The disadvantage is that we are working under extreme time pressure, which unfortunately means that some options are no longer available.

Many children want to become firefighters or astronauts. Did you want to be a negotiator?

As a child, I always wanted to be a journalist because I was good at writing and analyzing. In the end, however, I decided to become a police officer. It was the only way to get out of the small village where I grew up. I then worked as a uniformed police officer, later in the drugs squad, then went to university and then switched to the negotiation squad. I specialized early on in conducting negotiations and how to keep a cool head in crisis situations.

Which situation do you remember in particular?

As a police officer, I once had a case where we were called by a woman. She said that a man had shot himself right in front of her. In reality, the situation on the ground was quite different. The man wasn't dead, he was shooting at us and had taken a hostage whom he was threatening to kill. That's a situation that kept me very busy and which I later described in a book.

To what extent did writing down your experiences help you to process them?

I was able to come to terms with many bad situations. That was important for me because I always got very involved in the cases, and I still do that today. When a case is very important and takes me away, I really dream about it.

You wrote the book when you had already quit the police force. Why did you give up the job?

I was through. I don't know how to describe it, but I was in the police for 17 years and it wears you down. You never have a sense of achievement, nothing is positive, you're always trying to avoid the worst. In the long run, you become sarcastic, cynical and everything around you becomes negative. I couldn't and didn't want that anymore. So I resigned. At the same time, I wanted to use my knowledge and see if there wasn't a need for good negotiators in politics and business. So I founded my own company.

How great was the need for negotiators?

I was really shocked at how little expertise there is in politics and business when it comes to negotiations. Of course, there is no subject or school subject "negotiation", but often the absolute basics are missing, right up to the top. Most of them didn't even know how to set up a crisis team.

You've been doing the job for 15 years now. Have negotiations become more professional?

Unfortunately not at all. We have seen this again during the coronavirus pandemic. Many managers have tried to find solutions through persuasion, but that doesn't help in situations like this. Many then become emotional or desperate, both of which are fatal in negotiations.

Is it a German phenomenon to be able to negotiate badly?

In Germany, at least, the word "negotiator" has very negative connotations. When two German CEOs argue, they bang their heads together and come to a solution. However, this is rarely optimal for both sides. It's different in other countries, where negotiation is an art and people like to take a more playful approach. As soon as you try to do that in Germany, you're immediately met with phrases like: "This isn't a bazaar". That's a shame and damages German companies. As long as they don't understand that negotiations can be conducted differently, they will often have worse chances abroad than their competitors.

Especially in the German SME sector, negotiating is a matter for the boss. What do you think?

Disaster. Owners of German companies are the worst negotiators. They are highly emotional and often opinionated when it comes to selling their own company, for example. From a human point of view, I can understand that someone wants to be rewarded for their hard work and success. However, this is not acceptable in a professional negotiation. That's why our rule is: we don't negotiate with owners.

How do you get this message across to them gently?

We argue that we have to protect them. I then explain, for example, that there are bound to be personal attacks during the negotiations and that we want to protect them from such things. That leads to two or three discussions, but in the end it's important to send in a powerful team that can negotiate the sale without too much emotion. The boss should of course have confidence in this team, but he shouldn't come along himself.

You are used to extreme situations due to your police work. Does that make negotiations for the sale of a medium-sized company less risky?

Absolutely not. We negotiate with corrupt states that can imprison my employees or make them disappear. We negotiate with politicians and trade unions and the lives of thousands of jobs depend on the outcome of these negotiations. At the beginning of 2023, I also negotiated in Lützerath with the two activists who had barricaded themselves in a tunnel in the mining area. If this negotiation had not been successful, people would have died.

The two activists had locked themselves in the tunnel and didn't want to come out in order to stop coal mining in Lützerath. How did you get them out?

I spoke to them very openly and transparently about what it would take for them to go out and what I could offer. In a situation like this, it's extremely important not to get emotional or ideological. I'm a father and I don't think that coal mining is a good thing, but this view and my entire attitude must never be allowed to enter into the negotiations. Because nobody can win an ideological discussion. Generally speaking, you can't have a discussion. It's not about whether or not someone is right, but only about finding a solution together. That's why I never said anything like "Be reasonable", as that would only have encouraged them. Instead, I was transparent about what I could do, what our common goals were and how we could get there. In the end, I was successful.

What were the conditions under which the activists came out?

We have agreed not to disclose this information.

You said that you don't let your own emotions get in the way. How do you separate private and professional life?

I have created rituals that help me to slip into my role as a negotiator. For example, I always put on an expensive watch when I go into negotiations, which I take off when I get home. It's not about acting, but about embodying a certain role. In the end, we are committed to the result.

Thank you very much for the interview.