Credibility
If you want to have credibility, you must do what you say you will do. Your reputation as a credible person develops as a direct result of the trust others have in you to follow through, acting on what you have committed yourself to do. From my perspective, credibility begins with being authentic and is manifested in the actions you promise AND deliver. It is being accountable for what you say you will do. Whereas authenticity is grounded in personal integrity, credibility is the choice you make for interpersonal integrity.
Credibility – How do you get it? More importantly, how do you keep it? Gaining credibility takes years to achieve, and maintaining it is a lifetime goal for any leader. One wrong move can erase in an instant many years of hard work.
Communicating with credibility is an art form, one which you can master by using a few simple guidelines.
- Align your verbal and non-verbal language. Credibility is enhanced through consistent verbal and non-verbal language. The key word here is consistent. Executives who overlook non-verbal language, or body language, are dismissing one of communication’s most powerful tools. When your verbal and non-verbal language is out of alignment, you send out a mixed message. The result? The person receiving that message is confused, wondering what to believe — your verbal or your non-verbal. Non-verbal communication has many functions, but the two highlighted here are the functions of reinforcing or contradicting your verbal message. When non-verbal reinforces the verbal message, you maintain your credibility. When the non-verbal contradicts, or is inconsistent, with the verbal message, you run the risk of sending mixed messages, and losing credibility. For instance, the leader who says, “I am in full support of these salary negotiations” but looks away or down, sends out a conflicting non-verbal message that says, “I’m not really in full support of this.” When the verbal and non-verbal messages are conflicting, the non-verbal message will always win, because it is perceived to be more believable. That is why it’s called the “silent language.” Be consistent in your verbal and non-verbal language, and you will never have to worry about sending mixed messages which may jeopardize your credibility.
- Lead by Listening. Ask executives across the country what they look for in their top management teams, and most will say, “Good listeners.” The good news about listening is that it is a learned behavior, which means, even if you are a poor listener today, you can train yourself to be a better listener tomorrow. How well do you listen to your customers? Your employees? Your stockholders? Your management team? The good listener does not merely hear what is being said but rather observes and uses all the senses to reflect on the whole picture. Why should listening matter to you as a leader? In today’s competitive marketplace, silent observation is one of the most influential tools you can develop to gain a keen sense of awareness and keep you at the front of your game.
- Make realistic promises and keep them. Credibility can fade if you don’t keep your word, whether you have communicated it in writing or verbally. Your credibility slips when you don’t live up to the standards you have set for yourself or others have set for you. If promises are made and repeatedly broken, you begin to lose your credibility. Whether it is a key client or your staff who you make promises to, you will spiral downward ever so quickly if you don’t deliver on your promises. If you have a bad habit of committing more than you can deliver, take this advice: Think before you speak, and realistically promise only what you know you can deliver.
- Be yourself. This is an easy one. Many people who fall into the credibility trap do so because they misrepresent themselves as someone else. We all know individuals who have inflated their professional accomplishments to appear more attractive for a leadership position. They soon discover once they are in the position, they don’t have the level of expertise others expected of them (and everyone around them knows it!). People can see through individuals who try to position themselves as someone they are not.
- Be an expert. You are at the top because you know your business, and you have an ability to lead others. Yet, there are leaders who lack credibility because they only have a superficial knowledge base with no depth. The more you know, the more believable you are. But it doesn’t stop there. The credible leader is one who is willing to share that acquired knowledge with others and encourage open communication and idea sharing. It’s not just how much you know that positions you as a credible leader, but how willing you are to share that knowledge with others.
- Be honest. We need to look no further than the political arena to select our best examples of how to lose credibility by covering up. Politicians can save face if they stay honest in their statements from the beginning. If they admit wrongdoing, the public will be more forgiving. Instead, their statements came back to haunt them. The old saying, “What goes around comes around” demonstrates this to be true. Leaders are the first to be scrutinized during troubled times, because they are in control, whether they represent government, corporations or a non-profit organization. Too many leaders think they are invincible. When you accept a leadership position, you also accept full responsibility for your words and actions. Be honest from the beginning, and your credibility will remain intact.
- Be proactive. It’s never too late to do a credibility check. To stay on track, ask yourself questions, like, “What could potentially jeopardize my credibility?” “What steps can I take to improve my credibility?” “What can I do each day to ensure that my credibility is maintained?”
There is no asset more valuable or powerful than your personal credibility, because it goes to the very core of who you are as a person and a leader.