Nigel Taberner, a former hostage negotiator at Greater Manchester Police and Counter-Terrorism Policing North West has moved into the communications sector.
The ex-Detective Inspector has launched is own consultancy, Level2Communications after retiring from the force in February.
“Thankfully very few people will be faced with a situation where a man is holding a gun to their partner’s head and threatening to pull the trigger or someone is standing on a bridge about to jump,” he said of the move into media.
“That was part of my life as a hostage negotiator for 10 years and I feel very lucky that nobody died during the 130+ incidents I had to deal with.
“However the skills you learn as a hostage negotiator around making a good impression, building trust, listening and performing under pressure, are transferrable into the world of business and enable leaders to create better outcomes. That’s why I started Level2Communications.”
He said he’s already speaking to a series of “blue chip companies and football companies” about how to communicate more effectively.
“The best leaders are normally the best listeners,” he continued.
“That’s where the name of the business came from. Level 1 listening refers to general chit chat but listening at level 2 is listening at elite level. That’s what I teach at Level2Communications. Whether you’re the CEO of a business or a negotiator at an armed siege, the starting point is listening.
“Creating a good first impression is also really important. As a negotiator I wanted the other person to like me in order to develop trust and confidence. If you lose that trust you’re burnt but if you have that trust you can try and persuade them into a particular course of action.”
