Episode 101 | Building Trust in Today’s Organizations: Lessons from a Former Undercover Police Officer

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About Pamela Barnum:

Imagine what it would be like to live as a different person with a different name, identity, and background. For months at a time, you’re living with a false identity, and your success depends on building trust and detecting deception with some of the most dangerous people imaginable. That’s precisely what Pamela Barnum did for years working undercover in the Drug Enforcement Section. She learned real-world techniques for building trust and interpreting body language.

When Pamela graduated from law school, she left policing and accepted a position as a federal prosecuting attorney. She spent countless hours in the courtroom, perfecting her proficiency as a trust strategist and body language expert. 

Following a successful 20-year career in the criminal justice system, Pamela studied corporate negotiations in graduate school. Now, she shares her expertise with others, teaching them how to improve their communication skills to increase trust inside corporations, associations, and law enforcement agencies.

As a nonverbal communication expert and trust strategist, Pamela delivers techniques once thought of as a “secret second language” that participants can begin using immediately. 

Take decades of experience, including working deep undercover in narcotics, followed by a rewarding legal career, and you get real-world strategies that help participants crack the code on trust and improve professional relationships using proven field-tested techniques.

Pamela shares her experience, research, and expertise with humor, candor, and energy, blending actionable strategies with memorable stories. 

She is also a featured expert and contributor in print media, radio and television news programs in Canada and the United States. She has appeared in person in front of audiences ranging from 50 – 12,000 and on countless virtual stages.

Episode Notes:

Dr. Laura is joined by Pamela Barnum, a former undercover police officer and federal prosecutor who is also a keynote speaker, to talk about building trust in organizations. Pamela’s background in undercover work taught her how to build trust with difficult drug dealers, and her work as a prosecutor gave her further insight into building trust. As a body language expert and also a corporate negotiator, Pamela shares a lifetime of knowledge on the importance of trust and how to cultivate and maintain it. 

Pamela explains all her years of building trust in different careers as being able to read people and to show up in a way that’s trustworthy and charismatic. She discusses how trust is key to convincing people to buy into or accept whatever messaging is being presented and that it exists at the crossroads of confidence and empathy. She and Dr. Laura explore how leaders can instill a culture of trust in their organizations and talk about nonverbal cues and eye contact in cultural contexts. There is a sense of influence that goes along with cultivating trust, and Pamela’s experience helps convey the importance of modelling the behaviors we want to be returned to us. The lessons are profound and valuable in any setting. 

“You know, we want to be transparent, but sometimes there are things that the C-suite is telling the leadership team that can’t be shared with everyone yet, or isn’t really worked out all the way. So being transparent can be challenging, but I encourage people to be as transparent as possible with the information that they’re permitted to share, and share it in a way that lands with people so that they understand, they know what’s going to be happening, they know what the end goal is, and they have some steps to get there.” Pamela Barnum

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