How to build credibility?

  How to build credibility? 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

Continuing last week's discussion on developing credibility at the workplace to influence others to get things done, let us understand how some effective people build their credibility.
 
Building credibility at the workplace happens at two levels

1. Relationship building
2. Expertise in functional / domain

 Relationship building:

​People with high credibility consistently demonstrate that they are trusted people to listen, are not harmful to anyone, and work in the interest of others. They always show they are reliable to associate with.

How do they demonstrate they are reliable?

One holistic way of demonstrating this is through ease of approach.

Ease of approach is more than just physically or digitally approaching them quickly. It is all about how you feel after approaching them.

Some people are inconsistent in their mood, and we may need to know precisely their mood and whether we will get positive receptiveness when approaching them. Those people lose the trust of others as they are inconsistent in their mood and emotionally unstable.

For example, one of your colleagues swings his mood from extremely pleasant to angry at any moment during the conversation. Will you consider him/ her a reliable person to reach out to?
Certainly not.. because inconsistency in conduct will lead to a loss of trust.

An emotionally balanced person is always considered a trustworthy person as far as relationship building is concerned. That is the base for relationship building.

Expertise in functional or domain:

We cannot build credibility even if we are good in relationships but lack expertise in our function or domain.

Highly credible people are not just available for access but also share their knowledge and wisdom from their functional expertise whenever an opportunity arises. They will demonstrate their thought leadership by sharing their perspectives, ideas, and references whenever others need them.

They will consciously develop or polish their competency in their functional expertise.

Building credibility is a long-term, time-consuming process primarily around relationships and expertise in functional areas.

It is about character building, staying relevant in functional expertise, and sharing with others. 
 
There is no shortcut to building credibility…
 
 Have a great week ahead.