I will admit that I avidly follow Amy Cuddy and her work and really enjoyed a recent post where she provided a sketch note summary of her Harvard Business Review article with Matt Kohut & John Neffinger, ‘Connect, then Lead’.
I think this is a very relevant reminder for us all at the moment.
We (people) evaluate each other on warmth/trustworthiness and competence/strength.
BUT, we evaluate others’ trustworthiness — and value it more — than their strength.
Because their trustworthiness tells us something about their intentions toward us, which is understandably the most important thing we can learn about someone.
Strength/competence are judged second and valued less heavily.
When leaders fail to establish genuine trust, their strength/competence are not seen, not accepted, not valued.
In fact, by making the mistake that many leaders make — neglecting to genuinely demonstrate their trustworthiness/warmth — their strength is often seen as a fear-inducing threat, not a confidence-inducing welcome gift.
