Why is Credibility important in Leadership?

Why is credibility important in leadership and why is it one of a ton of important qualities that get overlooked in leadership? The big ones always get full attention: traits like humility, charisma, wisdom, and accountability; and no doubt, these are all essential for leaders, but credibility doesn’t often get the same attention is these others. We investigate…

Why is credibility so important to leaders?

Having credibility itself can mean many different things. It can mean being a trustworthy individual, that you have integrity and that you mean what you say.

It can mean having a deep base of genuine knowledge in your industry, being able to back up your decisions with experience and expertise.

Whatever form credibility takes is up to the people around you. In any case, proving that it’s a quality you hold is vital if you want to be a leader that fosters a culture of integrity and transparency. Being a credible person means having your words and actions seem genuine and done in good faith.

For leaders, this can be the difference between a workforce that is willing to follow them and looks to them for guidance, and a workforce that just nods along to hollow talk and affected actions.

 What is the impact of credibility in leadership?

Credibility helps leaders to model the integral personas that they want to see mirrored in their people.

If the people working under a leader know that they can’t take their words and actions at anything more than face value, that leader will soon find that their directions aren’t followed with conviction and that they struggle to effectively motivate anybody.

Good leaders invite their people to come on the journey with them, whether that journey leads to the shared goal of a more profitable business, or the success of each individual as defined by their personal goals.

As a leader, you need to be believable so that people put their trust in you. If you’re not a credible person, others will make up their own ideas as to what really drives you.

It’s human nature to assume that if people don’t show their genuine selves, then they’re not going to act in our interests—and perhaps that they’ll even step on us on their way up.

In leaders, this forms the foundation of a toxic work culture that drives people away and creates an unhappy environment.

You can make promises and profess the need to trust you until you’re blue in the face, but it won’t matter. Being incredible (in the worst way) will override everything else.

Learning credible leadership with Team Academy

Leadership skills can be taught like any other. Team Academy can show you how to be a credible and genuine leader who inspires others, leading them along rather than dragging them behind you.

To find out more about how to improve leadership skills and our boundary-breaking leadership training events and team building days, contact us today.