The Participation Blog

What Not To Have in Common With Vladimir Putin

Hubris or arrogance – closely related, but subtly different emotions – are one of the biggest impediments to (re)building and maintaining trust in people who need to know that you’re credible. The challenge comes when highly qualified, well-intentioned people need to relate to those who don’t have that knowledge and expertise. When skeptical people run into experts, they too often see them as pompous, especially if their expert demeanor and opinions run counter to what the skeptics already believe. Expertise feels like arrogance to skeptics.