The latest neuroresearch and psychological research on the brain and emotions (e.g. Lisa Feldman-Barret) is interesting. When a person experiences a lot of uncertainty, certain chemicals increase heart rate, blood pressure and sweat. Such feelings of stress are a sign that something significant is about to happen. In the end, with the help of emotions, you can understand the basic need behind the feeling and what is finally happening. When anxiety comes, it means that your brain and body are preparing you for something difficult or something where you have to learn something new in order to reduce uncertainty. You really don't want or shouldn't eliminate this anxiety by shifting your attention elsewhere or hiding your uncertainty. The anxiety caused by uncertainty is just worth experiencing in a different way. It should be seen as an opportunity to learn better ways of reacting to the situation. Fear and anxiety is the way to learning.
Trust is the opposite of feeling insecure. Trust removes stress and creates well-being. Confidence increases when things go as expected. In workplaces, trust reduces the need for contracts and uncertainty. In a work community, trust improves the flow of information between people, it increases commitment and the ability to innovate. Trust means a person's ability and desire to be vulnerable in different situations and in different relationships and roles.
That's why trusting always involves some degree of risk. There are big differences in people's tendency to trust, which go back to childhood. The tendency to trust is already born as a child, but it is shaped along with life experiences. Some people are very confident and daring to throw themselves into new situations, sometimes even too easily. Reliability is assessed either from the perspectives of benevolence, integrity or competence, sometimes all of these. A skeptic and a person who takes precautions will be saved from many pitfalls in life, but on the other hand, they may lose golden opportunities because of their cautiousness. How do you know what you can and should trust? And how much trust is too much? By identifying the types of trust, you can build trust piece by piece and become aware of where the risks lie.
In all competence-based cooperation, all three areas of trust are needed. Good will and feelings are not enough when you have to create something new or solve complex situations. Then you need know-how and have trust in strong know-how. Such confidence can be achieved with a certain amount of training and a combination of experience and education. On the other hand, a strong expert may not inspire trust in the community if goodwill and the ability to create team spirit are lacking. That's why trust should be consciously built not only through the development of competence and know-how, but also at the level of goodwill and integrity. This is how you reduce the stress of your coworkers and create well-being wherever you are. Trust is built as a result of successful communication, and so trust always lives and breathes in networks formed by people. In networks where interaction is based on trust, ideas are created, learning is continuous, new information is created and problems are solved together successfully. When trust in both oneself and the other party is in order, a person can breathe freely, speak freely and take bigger risks.
Author:
Päivi Lohikoski, Ph.D., Education Manager, University of Oulu Kerttu Saalasti Institute
In Kerttu Saalasti Institute's blog we write about the topics of the Institute's research groups, micro entrepreneurship education and the Institute's general topics. The authors are researchers, experts and members of networks.
Our topics are: micro entrenepreneurship, future manufacturing technologies, regional excellence, micro entrepreneurship education