Welcome to the Collaborative Hardball Podcast
I’m Susan Coleman, host of the Collaborative Hardball Podcast and author of the book Collaborative Hardball: Using the Power of a New Negotiation as Women to Change the World.
We are living through a time of profound disruption. The old patriarchal order is straining, breaking down - and causing some real harm on its way out.
At the same time, many voices and movements are helping to shape what comes next.
This podcast is part of that effort - exploring the rise of the feminine in negotiation, leadership, and in how we relate to power and to one another.
Collaborative Hardball is not anti-men - it’s anti the power-over paradigm of patriarchy. It centers women and welcomes allies.
I invite you to listen to the introductory episode below:
About the Podcast
This is a space for a global, ongoing conversation about how we navigate conflict, difference, and power in ways that actually move us forward.
Season 1 is a year-long inquiry inspired by the twelve chapters of Collaborative Hardball. Each episode expands on a core theme—approaching negotiation not as a narrow skill, but as a broader human capacity shaping: power, conflict, money, bodies, culture, climate, peace and more.
Through conversations with thinkers, activists, and practitioners, the podcast explores forms of leadership that are: firm, fierce, and fair—
relational, emotionally intelligent, and systems-aware.
Not abstract.
Not idealistic.
But grounded, practical, and deeply relevant.
What You’ll Experience
i.
Monthly interviews
that expand on (not repeat)
the book’s ideas
ii.
Conversations
that connect these
ideas to real life
iii.
Optional live Zoom circles for paid subscribers—
part book group, part co-coaching, part community
Where This Comes From
This podcast builds on my earlier work, The Peacebuilding Podcast: From Conflict to Common Ground (launched in 2015), which explored how people create common ground in complex systems.
Over time, one insight became increasingly clear:
Empowering women and achieving true gender equality planet-wide is the most impactful ‘peacebuilding’ initiative we can undertake for both peace and sustainability.
Collaborative Hardball is a continuation of that exploration
Join Us
If you’re interested in how we lead, negotiate, and relate differently in a changing world - you’re in the right place.
Join us.
Recent Episodes
