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Do you have credibility as a leader? The following are some of the key points from Kouzes and Posner’s revised and updated Credibility How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It. As with all my blogs I am not attempting to provide a complete review of this book but rather selected points.  If this material is interesting to you please read the entire book.

• Credibility is about how leaders earn the trust and confidence of their staff. It is earned over time and does not come automatically with the title.
• People have to believe in their leaders before they will willingly follow them.
• When people work with leaders they admire and respect they feel better about themselves and thus their spirits are set free which enables them to become more than they might have thought possible.
• People look for and admire leader who are; honest (truthful, has integrity, is trusting), forward-looking (visionary, has a sense of direction), inspiring (enthusiastic, optimistic, positive about the future), competent (effective, gets the job done, professional).
• The following are ways to earn and sustain credibility;

1. Discover your self-trust in your abilities and do what you believe in, especially in uncertain and challenging situations. In other words know what your Leadership Vision is-what are you trying to do as leader?
2. Appreciate and pay attention to others by sincerely listening. Remember it is not exactly the content of the exchange but rather the experience of being heard which affirms the persons and reduces their defensiveness.
3. Affirm shared values, which is building consensus and thus a genuine working relationship. These values are the internal compass that enables staff to act independently and interdependently as they make decisions and take actions. These people are more creative and innovative because they become immersed in what they are doing. As they feel part of the same team the quality and accuracy of communication increases and the integrity of the decision-making process enhances.
4. Develop capacity, which means increasing the scope of work for everyone, especially those on the front lines. You have to be willing to liberate the leader in everyone and distribute leadership across the organization in order to make yours one of the best places to work. The truth is that either you lead by example or you don’t lead at all. Credible leader walk the talk by doing what they say. They don’t ask others to do something they wouldn’t do themselves. Credible leaders hold themselves accountable to the same set of standards as they hold others.
5. Put other peoples needs first. Staff will not voluntarily follow self-serving leaders whose goals are to enrich themselves.
6. Sustain hope because staff want leaders who remain passionate despite obstacles and setbacks. In uncertain times leaders with a positive, confident, can-do approach will be successful because people will follow them. It means strengthening people’s belief that the struggle they are called upon to deal with will produce a more promising future. Hope is essential to achieving the highest level of performance. As a leader you have to learn to love the inevitable struggles and ensure forward progress no matter the situation.

Please share your thoughts, comments and experiences.