“Credit-ability”—credibility—is the leader’s FICO score.
Credibility is that combination
of trust and confidence that convinces people
you can successfully lead them into the future.
As a result, they voluntarily decide to follow you.
Both trust and confidence are essential to credibility. People may trust you, but if they don’t have confidence in you, they will not follow. And like trust, confidence has to be earned.
The starting point for confidence is in relationships.
“People today demand personal relationships with their leaders
before they will give themselves fully to their jobs.”
Bill George, True North
People have little confidence in leaders who are invisible, unavailable, impersonal and uncaring. Want to increase confidence in your leadership? Open your office door.
Courage is: (1) take the first step—lead from the front where it is risky; (2) slay the dragons that only the prime leader can slay; and (3) always accept the blame for failure. Why was German General Erwin Rommel such a great leader?
“The Desert Fox led from the front.
His mode of leadership was to place himself physically wherever the action was hottest…”
Steven Pressfield, Killing Rommel
A key component of confidence is the leader’s track record. Don’t expect people to enthusiastically “move out’ with you if your last four change initiatives have all failed. People will follow leaders who have “been there and done that.” So, building a track record of success is a really big deal for anyone who wants to lead really big change.
If you want to lead, do not underestimate the importance of credibility. Remember, you can’t lead without it because:
“The most essential quality for leadership is…credibility.”
Rick Warren
Since credibility (credit-ability) is the most essential quality of leadership (essential meaning you can’t lead without it), it is crucial to know what it is and how to get it.
Credibility is that combination of trust and confidence that convinces people you can successfully lead them into the future. As a result, they voluntarily decide to follow you.
Trust is fragile—easily broken. Trust takes time to build, but can be torn down in a moment. Without trust, you can’t lead. You can herd, but you can’t lead.
Building trust starts with integrity. Integrity is simple. God gave us three integrity rules to live by:
The telling points of integrity are the little things like inflated expense accounts, taking office supplies home for personal use, business trips that are really vacations, and using organization credit cards for personal items. No matter how “small” your cheating, stealing or lying is, it is still cheating, stealing and lying, and your credibility will be destroyed by these things.
Dependability is also simple. It is always doing what you say you will do and always being consistent. Few things destroy trust faster than unfilled promises. And, few things create anxiety more than inconsistent behavior. Make sure that “my word is my bond” is actually true for you, and make sure that people know what to expect from you, especially in stressful situations.
Another important part of building trust is humility. Simply put, leading a team is not about you, it’s about the team. People trust you because they believe that you have their interests at heart, not just your own.
Every now and then look over your shoulder. If fewer and fewer people are following, it may be because they don’t trust you. So, what are you going to do about it? Do you have anyone who will tell you the truth about yourself? If not, find someone.
Leaders have a credit score. It is their “credit-ability” which we call credibility. How important is credibility?
“The most essential quality for leadership is…credibility.” — Rick Warren
Since it is the most essential quality (essential meaning we can’t lead without it), we need to know what it is and how we get it.
Credibility is that combination of trust and confidence that convinces people you can successfully lead them into the future. As a result, they voluntarily decide to follow you.
Trust is about the heart. People trust you because they believe that you have their interests at heart, not just your own. The building blocks of trust are integrity, dependability and humility. Trust is hard to gain, easy to lose. Want to raise your Leadership FICO score? Start by building trust. (Leader’s FICO Score #3 will identify ways you can build trust.)
Confidence is about the future. It is people deciding to follow you because they have confidence you can get them to the finish line. The building blocks of confidence are relationships, courage and a track record of successfully leading. People may trust you, but if they don’t have confidence in you they will not follow. (Leader’s FICO Score #4 will identify ways you can build confidence.)
Credibility has to be earned. You do not have credibility just because you are in a position of leadership. People may follow you because they have to, but they will not follow you because they want to until you have a high Leadership FICO score with them.
Decide today: “I am going to raise my Leadership FICO score by building trust and confidence in my leadership.”
In the world of financial credit, we all have a FICO score which indicates how much risk there is in lending money to us. FICO scores (named after the Fair Isaac Company which developed the credit scoring system) range from 300 to 850 with anything above 750 considered to be excellent and anything below 580 considered to be very risky.
Eighty percent (80%) of an individual’s FICO score is based on:
So, if you have a long track record of paying on time and aren’t asking to borrow too much, your FICO score will be good and financial institutions will be willing to extend you credit.
Leaders have a credit score. It is their “credit-ability” which we call credibility. How important is credibility?
“…if he has not built credibility with his people,
it doesn’t really matter how great a vision he has.”
John Maxwell
“The most essential quality for leadership is…credibility.”
Rick Warren
Credibility is the single most important attribute of leadership. Without credibility, you can’t lead because no one will follow you—not willingly.
So if you want to lead, you need to be concerned about your Leader’s FICO Score. Is it above 750 and people line up to follow you willingly, or is it below 580 and people grudgingly follow only when they have no other choice?
If it is that important (and it is), it needs more than one post. The Leader’s FICO Score #2 (next week) will cover what credibility is and how you get it.
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