Building organizational trust with underlying emotional cues

Subtle cues in our language, voice pitch, gaze, pupil dilation, fidgeting, and fleeting expressions have all proven to indicate underlying emotional and cognitive states. And recent research conducted by the University of Arizona have found that you blink more when you’re stressed. 

These subconscious cues act as a lie detector when interacting with people — which in the world of business tends to happen a lot. 

How should this information be used when it comes to running our businesses? 

In my opinion, knowledge (technology and tools) can be used for good or for evil. It really just depends on the person or entity who is wielding it. 

For ages, humans have used discovery for good or for evil. Like the difference between the Account Executive who uses the psychology of persuasion to manipulate vs to serve. It all really depends. 

I can imagine a scenario where a medical trauma unit has been trained to use the aforementioned discoveries to identify and respond to stress in patients — helping to deliver a healthier and more productive experience.

I can also imagine a less-than-honorable organization identifying and utilizing stress as a means to force a desired outcome.Or an ignorant person using data without context to come to a dangerous and unfounded conclusion.

What we can do is educate ourselves and then consciously engage what we have control over — rather than responding subconsciously to fear of the unknown.

While we can't control the decisions of others, we still get to make decisions about who we trust, respect, and who we want to be in relationship with.

So - it depends. It did 50 years ago and it does today. 

Author: Jonathan Bolton — aka JB