In fact, success in this role requires us to adopt a new paradigm. It s a paradigm that I m calling the Trust Portfolio. Admittedly, each element is multi-faceted and must be managed on both personal and institutional levels. It s a hard-earned but critical quality. Managing institutional credibility is a little trickier.
Most publics perceive most scientists as highly credible.
But the higher you go in the organization, the less likely people are to believe the speaker actually knows what to do with the widget on his desk. We take the top administrators who have already been identified as political figures with the attending credibility baggage that presents and rewrite our best stories in a way that is palatable for those people. That s problematic for those of us who are managing a trust portfolio. The next challenge is convincing your publics that you have integrity that you will do the right thing by them. Of course, they will all have different opinions about what the right thing is.