In a significant move to stem the tide of Nigeria’s massive crude oil theft and opacity in the petroleum sector, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has unveiled new guidelines aimed at tightening control over the country’s crude oil and petroleum product exports.

Announced on Wednesday, the new regime—formally known as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Advance Cargo Declaration Regulation 2024—seeks to establish a comprehensive framework for real-time declaration, verification, and tracking of every shipment of crude oil and related products leaving Nigerian shores.

The NUPRC said the measure is designed to ensure that only certified, accurately measured, and government-sanctioned cargoes are exported—an attempt to seal the leakages that have cost Nigeria billions of dollars in stolen and undeclared oil over the years.

Under the new system, exporters must now secure an export permit, vessel clearance, and a Unique Identification Number (UIN) through a dedicated online portal operated by the Commission. All export documents, including the Bill of Lading, Certificate of Origin, and cargo manifest, must reference this UIN to ensure traceability throughout the export chain.

“The guidelines will help monitor and account for crude oil movement, prevent under-declaration at terminals, and strengthen revenue collection,” said NUPRC Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe. He added that the reforms are in line with the Commission’s mandate under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 to curb revenue loss, maximise government income, and enforce full regulatory oversight.

The declaration portal will integrate with other government export systems, allowing for real-time tracking, documentation within 24 hours of cargo loading, and end-to-end transparency. The Commission also retains the right to reject any export applications with incomplete or falsified information and impose fines or sanctions on violators.

This regulatory overhaul comes against the backdrop of persistent reports of industrial-scale oil theft, often involving a network of colluding insiders, security operatives, and international actors. Nigeria has, for decades, suffered from crude oil losses estimated at hundreds of thousands of barrels per day, undermining national revenue, weakening the naira, and deepening public distrust in the management of its most vital resource.

By introducing these digital verification and control measures, the NUPRC appears to be acknowledging that the old manual, loosely monitored export system enabled widespread looting and under-reporting. Whether these reforms can overcome entrenched interests and bring about true accountability remains to be seen, but the Commission insists this is a “significant step toward a more transparent, efficient and integrity-driven oil export regime in Nigeria.”

As Nigeria grapples with alarming hunger and poverty levels highlighted by the World Bank and other international institutions, a new report has exposed the staggering rise in food prices since President Bola Tinubu assumed office in May 2023 — underscoring the worsening plight of millions of Nigerians.

The report, released on Wednesday by Connected Development (CODE), revealed that the prices of key staples such as beans, rice, yam, maize, and garri have more than doubled in the past two years. Sourced from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data, the 2024 Annual Report titled “The Year of Active Citizen” paints a bleak picture of soaring inflation, vanishing food affordability, and mounting hardship.

According to the report, the price of white beans — a vital protein source for poor households — has skyrocketed by 272.84%, rising from ₦622 to ₦2,319 per derica between May 2023 and May 2025. Local rice, another dietary staple, rose by 139.94%, from ₦1,387 to ₦3,328 per derica. Yam prices have jumped by 204.5%, now selling at ₦1,151 per tuber, up from ₦378. White maize grain increased by 192.7%, from ₦318 to ₦930.79, while garri climbed by 130.54%, from ₦2,129 to ₦4,908.

These hikes come amid a broader economic crisis marked by currency freefall, fuel subsidy removal, and the ripple effects of global supply shocks — all of which have pushed more Nigerians below the poverty line. Recent World Bank assessments warned that more than 104 million Nigerians are at risk of food insecurity, with child malnutrition on the rise and household consumption collapsing under the weight of inflation.

What was once a daily meal for the average family is fast becoming unaffordable, even for the working class. Beans and garri, once considered “foods of the poor,” are now luxury items in many homes. In some regions, families have been forced to cut meals to one per day, or resort to nutritionally inferior substitutes.

CODE’s report highlights not just the collapse of purchasing power, but also the erosion of dignity in daily survival. “We tracked market prices to provide evidence-based data on the cost of living. The numbers speak for themselves — Nigerians are facing a full-blown food crisis,” the report noted.

While government officials tout reforms and long-term economic strategies, the statistics reveal a population sinking deeper into poverty with little immediate relief. For many Nigerians, the problem is no longer about economic growth projections — it’s about eating today.

As hunger tightens its grip across the country, the report underscores a critical warning: unless urgent and targeted interventions are made — including food security policies, price stabilization efforts, and direct support to vulnerable households — the human cost of Nigeria’s economic transition may prove catastrophic.

Consumer goods multinational PZ Cussons Plc is making a full retreat from Nigeria’s palm oil sector, selling its 50% stake in PZ Wilmar Limited to joint venture partner Wilmar International for $70 million in cash. The move brings an end to a 15-year partnership that launched one of Nigeria’s biggest players in the edible oil market.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the company confirmed that the transaction—which remains subject to regulatory approvals—is expected to be completed by the final quarter of 2025. Once concluded, Singapore-based Wilmar International will assume full ownership of PZ Wilmar and rebrand the company under a new name to be announced later.

PZ Wilmar is the producer of leading Nigerian cooking oil brands Mamador and Devon King’s, and also owns minority stakes in two palm plantations majority-controlled by Wilmar. The joint venture was established in 2010 as part of an ambitious plan to rebuild Nigeria’s once-thriving palm oil industry.

Commenting on the exit, PZ Cussons CEO Jonathan Myers said, “Our joint venture with Wilmar in Nigeria has been a long-term and rewarding partnership. I want to thank Wilmar’s leadership and our PZ Wilmar employees for their immense contributions. This transition allows PZ Cussons to sharpen focus on its core strengths in hygiene, baby, and beauty products.”

Wilmar’s Chairman and CEO, Kuok Khoon Hong, reiterated the group’s long-term commitment to Nigeria. “We remain bullish on Nigeria’s palm oil sector. With a population of over 200 million, a growing middle class, and strong agricultural potential, Nigeria is a strategic market for us,” he said.

Despite gaining full control of PZ Wilmar, Wilmar disclosed it is open to partnering with strong local players to support its Nigerian operations going forward. The company is expected to continue developing both upstream (palm plantations) and downstream (consumer goods) aspects of its business in Nigeria.

This exit underscores a broader shift by PZ Cussons to concentrate on its global core business segments amid a challenging operating environment in Nigeria. While PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc was never a shareholder in PZ Wilmar and remains unaffected by the sale, the decision signals the end of an era for the British company’s ambitions in Nigeria’s palm oil revival.

The development also reflects a growing trend of foreign companies reassessing their exposure to Nigeria’s volatile business climate—characterised by currency depreciation, regulatory uncertainties, and high operating costs—while leaving the door open for more risk-tolerant or regionally integrated players like Wilmar to deepen their footprint.

Fear stalks Tehran as Israel bombards, shelters fill up and communicating grows harder

The streets of Tehran are empty, businesses closed, communications patchy at best. With no bona fide bomb shelters open to the public, panicked masses spend restless nights on the floors of metro stations as strikes boom overhead.

This is Iran’s capital city, just under a week into a fierce Israeli blitz to destroy the country’s nuclear program and its military capabilities. After knocking out much of Iran’s air defense system, Israel says its warplanes have free rein over the city’s skies. U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday told Tehran’s roughly 10 million residents to evacuate “immediately.”

Thousands have fled, spending hours in gridlock as they head toward the suburbs, the Caspian Sea, or even Armenia or Turkey. But others — those elderly and infirm — are stuck in high-rise apartment buildings. Their relatives fret: what to do?

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 585 people and wounded over 1,300, a human rights group says. State media, also a target of bombardment, have stopped reporting on the attacks, leaving Iranians in the dark. There are few visible signs of state authority: Police appear largely undercover, air raid sirens are unreliable, and there’s scant information on what to do in case of attack.

Shirin, 49, who lives in the southern part of Tehran, said every call or text to friends and family in recent days has felt like it could be the last.

“We don’t know if tomorrow we will be alive,” she said.

Many Iranians feel conflicted. Some support Israel’s targeting of Iranian political and military officials they see as repressive. Others staunchly defend the Islamic Republic and retaliatory strikes on Israel. Then, there are those who oppose Iran’s rulers — but still don’t want to see their country bombed.

To stay, or to go?

The Associated Press interviewed five people in Iran and one Iranian American in the U.S. over the phone. All spoke either on the condition of anonymity or only allowed their first names to be used, for fear of retribution from the state against them or their families.

Most of the calls ended abruptly and within minutes, cutting off conversations as people grew nervous — or because the connection dropped. Iran’s government has acknowledged disrupting internet access. It says it’s to protect the country, though that has blocked average Iranians from getting information from the outside world.

Iranians in the diaspora wait anxiously for news from relatives. One, an Iranian American human rights researcher in the U.S., said he last heard from relatives when some were trying to flee Tehran earlier in the week. He believes that lack of gas and traffic prevented them from leaving.

The most heartbreaking interaction, he said, was when his older cousins — with whom he grew up in Iran — told him “we don’t know where to go. If we die, we die.”

“Their sense was just despair,” he said.

Some families have made the decision to split up.

A 23-year-old Afghan refugee who has lived in Iran for four years said he stayed behind in Tehran but sent his wife and newborn son out of the city after a strike Monday hit a nearby pharmacy.

“It was a very bad shock for them,” he said.

Some, like Shirin, said fleeing was not an option. The apartment buildings in Tehran are towering and dense. Her father has Alzheimer’s and needs an ambulance to move. Her mother’s severe arthritis would make even a short trip extremely painful.

Still, hoping escape might be possible, she spent the last several days trying to gather their medications. Her brother waited at a gas station until 3 a.m., only to be turned away when the fuel ran out. As of Monday, gas was being rationed to under 20 liters (5 gallons) per driver at stations across Iran after an Israeli strike set fire to the world’s largest gas field.

Some people, like Arshia, said they are just tired.

“I don’t want to go in traffic for 40 hours, 30 hours, 20 hours, just to get to somewhere that might get bombed eventually,” he said.

The 22-year-old has been staying in the house with his parents since the initial Israeli strike. He said his once-lively neighborhood of Saadat Abad in northwestern Tehran is now a ghost town. Schools are closed. Very few people even step outside to walk their dogs. Most local stores have run out of drinking water and cooking oil. Others closed.

Still, Arshia said the prospect of finding a new place is too daunting.

“We don’t have the resources to leave at the moment,” he said.

Residents are on their own

No air raid sirens went off as Israeli strikes began pounding Tehran before dawn Friday. For many, it was an early sign civilians would have to go it alone.

During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Tehran was a low-slung city, many homes had basements to shelter in, and there were air raid drills and sirens. Now the capital is packed with close-built high-rise apartments without shelters.

“It’s a kind of failing of the past that they didn’t build shelters,” said a 29-year-old Tehran resident who left the city Monday. “Even though we’ve been under the shadow of a war, as long as I can remember.”

Her friend’s boyfriend was killed while going to the store.

“You don’t really expect your boyfriend — or your anyone, really — to leave the house and never return when they just went out for a routine normal shopping trip,” she said.

Those who choose to relocate do so without help from the government. The state has said it is opening mosques, schools and metro stations for use as shelters. Some are closed, others overcrowded.

Hundreds crammed into one Tehran metro station Friday night. Small family groups lay on the floor. One student, a refugee from another country, said she spent 12 hours in the station with her relatives.

“Everyone there was panicking because of the situation,” she said. “Everyone doesn’t know what will happen next, if there is war in the future and what they should do. People think nowhere is safe for them.”

Soon after leaving the station, she saw that Israel had warned a swath of Tehran to evacuate.

“For immigrant communities, this is so hard to live in this kind of situation,” she said, explaining she feels like she has nowhere to escape to — especially not her home country, which she asked not be identified.

Fear of Iran mingles with fear of Israel

For Shirin, the hostilities are bittersweet. Despite being against the theocracy and its treatment of women, the idea that Israel may determine the future does not sit well with her.

“As much as we want the end of this regime, we didn’t want it to come at the hands of a foreign government,” she said. “We would have preferred that if there were to be a change, it would be the result of a people’s movement in Iran.”

Meanwhile, the 29-year-old who left Tehran had an even more basic message for those outside Iran:

“I just want people to remember that whatever is happening here, it’s not routine business for us. People’s lives here — people’s livelihoods — feel as important to them as they feel to anyone in any other place. How would you feel if your city or your country was under bombardment by another country, and people were dying left and right?”

“We are kind of like, this can’t be happening. This can’t be my life.”

** Iran’s leader warns of ‘irreparable damage’ if Trump attacks

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected U.S. calls for surrender in the face of blistering Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage” to them.

“Wise individuals who know Iran, its people, and its history never speak to this nation with the language of threats, because the Iranian nation is not one to surrender,” he said in the low-resolution video, his voice echoing. An Iranian diplomat had earlier warned that U.S. intervention would risk “all-out war.”

What to know:

• Senior European diplomats to hold nuclear talks with Iran Friday:The high-ranking diplomats from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union’s top diplomat will gather for the meeting in Switzerland, according to a European official familiar with the plans. The meeting comes as U.S. President Donald Trump weighs whether to directly involve the nation’s military in the conflict.
• Iran says it will keep enriching uranium: Israel says it launched the strikes to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, after talks between the United States and Iran over a diplomatic resolution had made little visible progress over two months but were still ongoing. Trump has said Israel’s campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks.
• Casualties mount in Iran: Human Rights Activists said it had identified 239 of those killed in Israeli strikes as civilians and 126 as security personnel. The group, which also provided detailed casualty figures during 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, cross-checks local reports against a network of sources it has developed in the country.

** US starts evacuating some diplomats from its embassy in Israel as Iran conflict intensifies

The State Department has begun evacuating nonessential diplomats and their families from the U.S. embassy in Israel as hostilities between Israel and Iran intensify and President Donald Trump warns of the possibility of getting directly involved in the conflict.

A government plane evacuated a number of diplomats and family members who had asked to leave the country Wednesday, two U.S. officials said. That came shortly before U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced on X that the embassy was making plans for evacuation flights and ships for private American citizens.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic movements.

“Given the ongoing situation and as part of the embassy’s authorized departure status, mission personnel have begun departing Israel through a variety of means,” the State Department said.

“Authorized departure” means that nonessential staff and the families of all personnel are eligible to leave at government expense.

There was no indication of how many diplomats and family members departed on the flight or how many may have left by land routes to Jordan or Egypt.

The evacuations, comments from the White House and shifting of American military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East have heightened the possibility of deepening U.S. involvement in a conflict that threatens to spill into a wider regional war.

Trump has issued increasingly pointed warnings about the U.S. joining Israel in striking at Iran’s nuclear program, saying Wednesday that he doesn’t want to carry out a U.S. strike on the Islamic Republic but suggesting he is ready to act if it’s necessary.

The State Department also has steadily ramped up its warnings to American citizens in Israel and throughout the region, including in Iraq.

Last week, ahead of Israel’s first strikes on Iran, the department and the Pentagon put out notices announcing that the U.S. embassy in Baghdad had ordered all nonessential personnel to leave and that the Defense Department had “authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations across the Middle East.

Those warnings have increased as the conflict has intensified, with the embassy in Jerusalem authorizing the departure of nonessential staff and families over the weekend and ordering remaining personnel to shelter in place until further notice.

The embassy has been closed since Monday and will remain shut through Friday.

AP

If anyone needed a compelling argument against electing old and lethargic leaders whose breasts the milk of human kindness has long dried, the response by the present administration to the recent killings in the Yelwata community of Benue should suffice. For a round of violence that consumed an estimated 200 people, the press release issued by the government in the wake of the incident severely lacked the urgency and empathy one would expect. It was signed by the President’s media aide, Bayo Onanuga, who sounded just as morally fatigued—perhaps even bored—with the recurrence of Nigeria’s tragedy as his principal. Politics for them seems to be an activity to engage in merely to capture as many constituencies as possible, appropriate national resources to themselves and their cronies, and celebrate themselves. The real hard work of governance and nation-building confounds them.

First, the press release was irresponsible. Their tautologically describing the Benue killings as “reprisal attacks” suggests that the murders were warranted. While I am sceptical that Onanuga (or his team) thought that the Yelwata attacks were justified recrimination, their choice of language betrays their understanding. How could they even tell that the Benue attacks were a counterattack? Did they have confessional statements from the perpetrators? It is one thing for the media to describe an attack as “reprisal,” it is another thing entirely for the official narration by the Presidency to do so. If that incident was a reprisal, they could at least have provided the identity of the attackers and the prior grievance that supposedly provoked retaliation.

The Presidency needed not to have waited until the latest attack before promising to “act decisively and arrest perpetrators of these evil acts on all sides of the conflict and prosecute them”. By vowing to deal with aggressors universally rather than pinpointing the perpetrators of the dastardly attacks, they tried too hard to respond to public outrage without offending either the tribe of the aggressors or the community of the victims. When your politics is all about winning elections, that is the placatory manner you speak on issues that require you to demonstrate a firm resolve.

There is no way to slice the Benue attacks without the ineffectiveness of the Bola Tinubu administration glaring back at you. Their haste to slap a diagnosis on the crisis seems to obscure their ability to see this beyond what they would prefer it to be. According to the Benue Governor, Hyacinth Alia, those attackers overwhelmed the military and police, entered the community, and massacred for hours on end. That sequence of action looks far more sophisticated than what the same language of “reprisal attacks” conveys. If this was a reprisal, at what point did the Yelwata people carry out an attack of similar proportion on their assailants? And even if they ever did, what was the government’s response?

The blood of the dead has not even dried, and the Presidency is already demanding “reconciliation” among the “warring communities”. Why put the cart of reconciliation before the horse of justice? If someone comes into your community, overwhelms the security agents protecting you, and then murders your people, would you want to be reconciled with them? It is funny how they are discussing reconciliation as the solution. When an act of grave injustice happens to poorer people in rural communities, the political establishment urges them to make peace with their killers. But when even a trivial matter affects the same political class in Nigeria, they will go to any extent—including trampling on due process of the law—to get their own payback.

We are all enraged by this murder in Benue, but this is just one of the several incidents ongoing in Nigeria that show that governance is slipping from Tinubu’s grasp. The man has been a better politician than a leader.

His best skills lie in the manipulative art of politicking to win elections. When it comes to governance, he is slow. There is little he has done so far that assures that Nigeria is on the path to peace, prosperity, and progress. He and his cronies are busy back-patting themselves as a precursor to launching their 2027 electoral campaign, but the truth is that Nigeria under their watch is poorly administered. Virtually all the ongoing activities in the country are tailored toward the next election, and very little suggests that these people are driven to any urgency to reform the nation for the people.

People always come as an afterthought, and their social flourishing rarely drives any political or economic agenda. For the President to patronisingly announce that he would “adjust his schedule” to go to Benue to commiserate with the victims of the attack shows we are dealing with a leadership that thinks our national problems are an inconvenience or even a distraction to his ambition rather than the raison d’être of his government. What does Tinubu do every day that is so urgent that going to Benue requires adjusting his schedule? Other than receiving visitors with whom he takes photos to show who else has been captured ahead of the 2027 election and inaugurating petty projects, what does anyone see him do? Now, he acts as if going to Benue is a favour. That pejorative attitude has defined his administration since 2023.

Tinubu needs to wake up and realise that we cannot continue like this. The problem of insecurity has gone on for so long in Nigeria that it has virtually become a tradition. It is time for him to sit up and do the hard work of governance. He should refrain from politicking for now and focus on fulfilling the mandate he claimed in 2023. It is not enough to state that you have given a directive to “security chiefs to implement his earlier directive to bring lasting peace and security to Benue State”, but you must push out reforms.

This idea of giving marching orders to security chiefs is not cutting it. Imagine a whole President saying he has given a directive for his earlier directive to be executed! So, what happens if the meta-directive does not yield desired results? Will he issue another directive to implement the directives he gave earlier directive be implemented? That does not sound very reassuring about his leadership abilities. The idea of merely tasking security chiefs to produce results does not seem to be working. Muhammadu Buhari, too, once gave a directive to set up a military command centre in Maiduguri. At some point, his administration claimed the “technical defeat” of terrorism in the same way Nuhu Ribadu boasted that they had defeated insurgency by “90 per cent” just a few months ago. We should move beyond these games and address Nigeria’s problems comprehensively.

Insecurity is a major issue, and its persistence contributes to and intersects with other forms as well. Life is precarious in Nigeria; people are strained due to the ill-conceived and poorly executed policies of the Bola Tinubu administration. If we continue at the rate we are going, more people will be pushed to the brink of even worse criminal behaviour. Time is running out on us, and our leader should not help us waste it.

Punch

Scott Hutcheson

Believe it or not, first impressions are biological. When meeting someone for the first time, well before your résumé or title is considered, your brain and body are sending and receiving subtle signals that influence trust. In today’s workplaces, where hybrid teams and digital interactions dominate, those signals matter more than ever.

The good news is that you can learn to send them more intentionally. In my work developing Leadership Biodynamics, a biology of behavior approach to executive presence, I help leaders become more aware of how trust and connection are built at the behavioral level. The signals that trigger trust are not abstract: they’re cues the human brain is wired to read quickly and deeply, because in evolutionary terms, deciding whether someone was safe to approach was once a matter of survival.

That’s still true in the modern workplace. Whether you’re onboarding to a new team, pitching an idea to executives, or building rapport with clients, the signals you send, especially those of warmth, create the foundation for influence.

Here are five warmth signals, rooted in behavioral science, that can make you instantly more trustworthy at work.

1. LISTEN WITH FULL ATTENTION

In any conversation, your body gives away whether you are truly listening. Direct eye contact, open posture, leaning slightly forward, and subtle nods all signal active attention. These cues calm the other person’s limbic system, reducing social threat and increasing openness.

Research on neuroception, the brain’s unconscious scanning for cues of safety, shows that listening behaviors have an outsized impact on trust. When someone perceives you as fully present, they are more likely to see you as trustworthy.

2. ACKNOWLEDGE AND VALIDATE OTHERS

Warmth is not just about being friendly. It’s about making others feel seen and valued. Small behaviors, such as verbally acknowledging good work, validating concerns, or thanking colleagues meaningfully, send powerful signals.

In Leadership Biodynamics, I teach that validation is a key biological mechanism of social bonding. When you acknowledge another’s contribution, you activate neural circuits linked to oxytocin release. This reinforces affiliation and trust.

3. FOCUS ON OTHERS IN CONVERSATION

It’s easy to let a conversation drift back to your own experiences or ideas. However, warmth signals are amplified when you keep the focus on the other person. Ask questions. Draw them out. Let them shine.

Behavioral science research supports this. Studies show that people rate conversations more positively when the other person shows genuine interest and curiosity about them. This behavior is linked to increased perceptions of trustworthiness and likability.

4. BE APPROACHABLE AND EASY TO RELATE TO

Approachability is a behavioral signal with deep biological roots. From a neuroscience perspective, a smiling face, relaxed tone of voice, and nonthreatening posture lower others’ cortisol responses and increase approach behaviors.

Even small shifts in physical demeanor can change how others regulate their own behavior in response to you. Warmth cues such as smiling when greeting colleagues or using humor appropriately make you easier to approach. As a result, you are more trusted.

5. SHOW THOUGHTFULNESS IN SMALL ACTIONS

Trust is cumulative. Seemingly minor actions, like following up after a conversation, remembering a colleague’s birthday, or offering help without being asked, signal consistency and care over time.

Behavioral scientists have shown that such acts trigger reciprocal altruism mechanisms in the brain. This strengthens relational bonds. In leadership terms, they contribute to what I call a positive relational “microclimate,” a state in which trust, loyalty, and collaboration flourish.

WHY THESE SIGNALS MATTER NOW

In hybrid workplaces, where informal trust-building moments are fewer, warmth signals become even more important. They help compensate for the missing relational glue that office proximity once provided.

The latest research on team trust and psychological safety confirms this. Teams that build trust quickly perform better, especially under uncertainty. Warmth signals are often the fastest path to that trust. It is not status or credentials, but behavioral cues that others can feel in the moment.

Trust is not built by charisma. It is built by signals your biology already knows how to send. The opportunity is to send them more intentionally.

The bottom line is this: if you want to become more trustworthy at work, start small. Tune your warmth signals. Listen fully, validate openly, focus on others, be approachable, and act thoughtfully. In the biology of behavior, these are the cues that connect. And connection is what drives trust and influence.

Fast Company