Entry Fourteen

Story:

Showing trustworthiness is an essential key to successful networking.  In any profession, people do not want to network, let alone work with individuals who they cannot trust.  Being a trustworthy individual means having a “…high measure of character as seen by those people with whom we interact” (Block, 156).  The way that we prove our credibility as trustful, is by establishing clear precise personal qualities, showing straightforward, good intentions and having a clear and precise attitude (158).  The personal qualities that need to be focused on is being honest and being sincere.  As previous stated, being forthright in your interactions with your coworkers is the best way to establish a sense that you are an honest person.  It is human nature to trust more openly an honest person as opposed to those who lie.  It is important that an individual be sincere in their actions.  Whenever they are focusing on a goal, or they have a certain value set, they need to stay sincere to those values, and not show signs of dramatic change (Baum & Nowicki, 1998). 

Advice: 

To see the affects of your label in an attempt to gain trustworthiness, it is important to be able to survey others cues in how they feel (Sandhya, 2007).  Action speaks louder in words, because it is the case that someone will speak one thing, but nonverbally do another.  For example, a manager asks two coworkers to work together on a risky project.  The manager pulls the two individuals in their office and tell them about the project and if they are comfortable working together.  A good way for these coworkers to see if they have a level of trustfulness is by how each coworker reacts to the situation.  If a trust is established between the two coworkers, there nonverbal will show positive arousal, and if concern is expected, it is expressed words the project or the manager, by facing the manager.  If that trust has not been set up, or has been settled negatively between the two coworkers, then even if the two say they are willing to work on the project, they will be physically moving away towards each other, or adjusting uncomfortably.  However, nonverbal cues are not always so easy to identify as physical repulsion, it can also take the form of a lack of effort on the project, or a general lack of communication between the coworkers. 

 References:

-Baum, K. M., & Nowicki, Jr., S. (1998). Perception of Emotion: Measuring Decoding Accuracy of Adult Prosodic Cues Varying in Intensity. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 22, 89-107.

-  Block, D. (2007). Investing in Staff Development Pays Off. Adult Basic Education & Literacy Journal, 1(3), 154-156. Retrieved March 19, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.

- Sandhya, R. (2007). The Media Globe: Trends in International Mass Media. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 84(4), 858-860. Retrieved April 5, 2009, from the Communication & Mass Media Complete database.