No matter what we’re doing in our professional lives,
trust is the single most important element in the process
I call “Creating WE,” which is built on a level of trust
that binds us together. Before we can interact openly
with others we need to answer this question: Are you a
friend or an enemy? This profound question is hardwired
in us — it’s been honed by evolution, and our lives have
depended on answering the question correctly for millions
of years.
Today, in business, our literal survival may not depend
on toggling between friend or foe decisions from moment
to moment, but our brains don’t know that. To us, our
livelihood may feel like a life-or-death issue. The moment
we enter into a conversation, our brains map our “interaction
patterns,” and we read a great deal of information
from the dynamics of the interaction. We know if the
person is a “giver, taker or matcher.” We know if we will
be safe, if the person is friendly, or if she will harm us. We
know whether we can trust him. All of this is hardwired
into the way we process conversations, and this sensitivity
can be called “vital instincts.” They