British Columbia psychologists Jason Martens and Jessica Tracy demonstrates. Similarly, in my own research with Lisa Williams, of the University of New South Wales, we found that people expressing pride in newly formed working groups were the ones who quickly rose to positions of leadership, even though the abilities that their pride stemmed from were not relevant to the task at hand. But too often we mistake self-confidence for true ability. If someone can people’s back up his or her bravado with consistent performance, no harm done. If there’s you fall for empty (or deluded) posturing, however, a problem. it’s the best way to assess competence? Do your homework. Although What’s always a good indicator of integrity, it is a solid predictor of reputation isn’t because capabilities are relatively stable regardless of competence. That’s in rewards and thus subject to a moral calculus. So when you perceive aren’t confidence in a leaders, talk to current and previous employees, company’s suppliers, and customers to verify that it is warranted. OK to Trust Your Gut It’s Researchers in the academic, business, and military communities have spent years trying to uncover a few simple methods for detecting trustworthiness but, despite their best efforts, continue to come up short. All those books promising to teach you how to spot liars through body language? None has empirical support. And, as a recent report by the Government Accounting Office revealed, even the tactics Homeland Security and TSA agents are trained to use work reliably. don’t The temptation, of course, is to look for one that indicates someone be “tell” can’t trusted. Is it a false smile? Shifty eyes? The reality, though, is that any single cue is ambiguous. If someone touches her face, she might subconsciously be trying to hide something—or she might have an itch. To accurately infer another’s intentions, you need to look for a set of cues—gestures that together can more accurately predict or reveal motivation. The good news is that most of us do this instinctively. Four Signals That Someone Can’t Be Trusted Contrary to popular wisdom, no that will help you detect there’s single “tell” untrustworthiness. Rather, you need to look for these four clues together to more accurately predict whether someone is worthy trusting—or not.
British Columbia psychologists Jason Martens and Jessica Tracy demonstrates. Similarly, in my own research with Lisa Williams, of the University of New South Wales, we found that people expressing pride in newly formed working groups were the ones who quickly rose to positions of leadership, even though the abilities that their pride stemmed from were not relevant to the task at hand. But too often we mistake people’s self-confidence for true ability. If someone can back up his or her bravado with consistent performance, there’s no harm done. If you fall for empty (or deluded) posturing, however, it’s a problem. What’s the best way to assess competence? Do your homework. Although reputation isn’t always a good indicator of integrity, it is a solid predictor of competence. That’s because capabilities are relatively stable regardless of in rewards and thus aren’t subject to a moral calculus. So when you perceive confidence in a company’s leaders, talk to current and previous employees, suppliers, and customers to verify that it is warranted. It’s OK to Trust Your Gut Researchers in the academic, business, and military communities have spent years trying to uncover a few simple methods for detecting trustworthiness but, despite their best efforts, continue to come up short. All those books promising to teach you how to spot liars through body language? None has empirical support. And, as a recent report by the Government Accounting Office revealed, even the tactics Homeland Security and TSA agents are trained to use don’t work reliably. The temptation, of course, is to look for one “tell” that indicates someone can’t be trusted. Is it a false smile? Shifty eyes? The reality, though, is that any single cue is ambiguous. If someone touches her face, she might subconsciously be trying to hide something—or she might have an itch. To accurately infer another’s intentions, you need to look for a set of cues—gestures that together can more accurately predict or reveal motivation. The good news is that most of us do this instinctively. Four Signals That Someone Can’t Be Trusted Contrary to popular wisdom, there’s no single “tell” that will help you detect untrustworthiness. Rather, you need to look for these four clues together to more accurately predict whether someone is worthy trusting—or not.
Who-Can-You-Trust.DeSteno.HBR_.docx