Demonstrating Leadership Credibility: A Trusted Formula for Company Success
(Written for Know Women by Lori Harris, Managing Partner, Harris Whitesell Consulting)
How aware are you, as a leader, of the perceived credibility of your leadership with team, employees, partners, and customers? Are you willing to commit to radical responsibility? As a leader, do you spend time in self-mastery, defining and refining the best you have to offer each day? Are you cognitive and intentional about your communications so that employee perception is aligned to your true self as a leader? Are you doing your best each day to keep in balance key resources so that there is excellence in your organization’s products and services? Are you able to uphold and deliver at any given moment the vision of the organization with consistency and pride?
We all have worked in organizations where employee morale is low, there is limited collaboration amongst employees and teams, lack of pride in work accomplished, unfair work practices and a significant lack of trust in leadership. And most likely, if these situations exist, there is financial loss occurring within the organization. These scenarios are evidence of a lack of credibility in the leadership of the organization.
Leaders are in a relations role, whereas their credibility can motivate, build, and develop people to become powerful resources to support and sustain the mission and vision of an organization. A leader who is perceived by their employees and team as credible offers understanding through storytelling, role modeling, competence and is a person of consistent high integrity. Leaders who are cognitive and intentional demonstrate key behaviors that afford them highly trusted relationships with their teams and employees. Great leaders are courageous, humble, and disciplined in their approach to uphold the vision and mission of the organization while realizing satisfaction and productivity of their workforce so that the organization’s goals are achieved.
There are four foundational principles that support how a leader builds credibility with the people who are critical to the organization’s vitality: self-mastery, integrity, communication, and competence. Within each principle, there are key behaviors that a leader will need to practice consistently and model to gain the trust of these important stakeholders, build a culture of greatness and uphold her or his perceived integrity both internally and externally. Leaders can use this leadership credibility checklist to identify key behaviors and areas for continuous self-mastery and improvement.
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