Trust is Power

You go to the dentist, and she recommends a crown. The mechanic says your timing belt needs replacing. You nod. You don’t really know—but you trust them. Because, well, you have to. They’ve got the expertise and you don’t. 

Every day, we place our wellbeing in the hands of experts—doctors, pilots, financial advisors—because we believe they know more, and that they’ll use that knowledge in our best interest.

And most of the time, they do.
But sometimes… that trust is exploited.

Consider This

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman being treated for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins, had her cells taken without her knowledge. Those cells—dubbed HeLa—were the first human cells to survive and reproduce indefinitely in a lab. They became the foundation for medical breakthroughs: the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, IVF, even COVID-19 research.

But her family knew nothing about it—for decades.

When they were finally contacted in the 1970s, it wasn’t to apologize or compensate them—it was to take more blood, under misleading pretenses. Researchers kept using and profiting from HeLa cells, even as the Lacks family tried to fight for justice. But they lacked the resources and understanding of the medical research industry to succeed. 

It wasn’t until journalist Rebecca Skloot’s book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010) brought the story into public view that meaningful change began. In 2013, the NIH finally gave the family a say in how HeLa genome data was used. And in 2023, a legal settlement acknowledged, at long last, the ethical failure.

The damage couldn’t be undone. But their story reshaped how we think about informed consent, patient rights, and the ethical obligations of medical research.

Putting it into Play

Expertise creates an automatic power imbalance. When you know more than someone else, and they rely on you, their trust gives you leverage. The question is: what do you do with it?

Henrietta Lacks’ story is a painful reminder of what happens when experts act without transparency, and when institutions forget the humanity behind their data.

So whether you’re a coach, doctor, lawyer, teacher—or simply someone others turn to for guidance—these things help you use that expert power wisely:

• Explain, don’t just decide. People deserve to understand the choices they’re being asked to make.

• Be honest about your limits. Expertise doesn’t mean certainty. Owning what you don’t know builds more trust than pretending.

• Gain consent at each step. Consent isn’t a box to check once—it’s establishing partnership at every stage of the journey.

Trust isn’t just earned—it’s held. And when you hold someone’s trust, you’re holding real power. Use it well.