Reagan-Gorbachev Exit Strategy
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Shaan shares a story (possibly from Tony Robbins) about how President Reagan handled a tense meeting with Gorbachev during the Cold War.
"Reagan went to see Gorbachev and they had a meeting. The meeting was not going well - the hope was to deescalate but actually the meeting was sort of like tension and neither side wanted to give. They were getting more dug in and more stubborn in their stance.
Reagan didn't know what to do, but then he did something interesting. He got up and stormed out of the room fast, but right before he got to the door, he hit him with a 360-degree turn, came back with a big smile on his face and said 'Let's start over.' He shook his hand and said 'I'm Ronald' and expressed appreciation for certain things about him.
He basically broke the frame for a second and used charisma and playfulness to reduce tension. Then they were able to have a real conversation.
[Note: Shaan admits he heard this from Tony Robbins and isn't sure if it's entirely true, but believes the principle is valuable regardless]"
Shaan Puri
Host of MFM
Shaan Puri is the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Milk Road. He previously worked at Twitch as a Senior Director of Product, Mobile Gaming, and Emerging Markets. He also attended Duke University.