Negative Cues From A Person In Authority
January 26, 2025โข355 words
You don't pick up cues, you pick up impulses. ~ Sanford Meisner
Nonverbal communication is an elaborate secret code that is written nowhere, known by none, and understood by all. ~ Edward Sapir
When the eyes say one thing, and the tongue another, a practiced man relies on the language of the first. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
The simplest and most satisfactory view is that thought is simply behavior - verbal or nonverbal, covert or overt. It is not some mysterious process responsible for behavior but the very behavior itself in all the complexity of its controlling relations. ~ B. F. Skinner
These are soft and strong signals that erode the trust, morale, and loyalty of people under him or her through negative cues. It mostly shows up in ways that scream insecurity, incompetence, or disdain in unspoken gestures, tones, or passive-aggressive comments that slice deeper than any outright command. The human mind, hardwired to detect even the least little bit of the cue as threats to survival and belonging, responds.
A person in a position of authority not looking into someone's eyes gives reasons for not believing in themselves, and the one speaking over others gives reasons for disregard. Such a mentor is like fire-the slightest miscalculation of tone and action can break that sensitive balance, setting the seed for resentment within his or her coworkers.
Social psychology teaches us that people unconsciously adopt the energy of their mentors and individuals in authority; negative cues ripple outward, creating a negative culture and an environment of fear and disconnection that mirrors the negative individual's flaws which in turn causes other coworkers to follow suit.
For that, an authority figure has to be very sensitive with respect to their acts and even unspoken minute cues, as those may have effects on the balance of power. That is, human interactions often occur along the dimensions of ego and emotion, which, unaware to themselves, can signal negatively, revealing a side of the authority figure's personality not intended to be expressed. Subtle and unconscious, such signals undermine their power much more than overt words might.