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Karin’s Leadership Articles

Leadership Credibility: 5 Subtle Ways Leaders Lose Street Cred

Leadership Credibility: 5 Subtle Ways Leaders Lose Street Cred

by | May 14, 2014 | Authenticity & Transparency, By Karin Hurt, Employee Engagement & Energy |

Improve Your Leadership Credibility
By Avoiding These Easy Mistakes

Leadership credibility is hard to establish and easy to lose. The sad truth is I’ve seen really good leaders lose the confidence and credibility of their teams by making well-intentioned and innocent mistakes.

5 Subtle Ways To Diminish Your Leadership Credibility

I’m not talking about the big stuff like lack of follow-through or breaking commitments, but the subtle shifts that undermine all the trust you’re working to build. Don’t fall into these traps.

  1. Choosing the wrong words
  2. Being close, yet so far away
  3. Appearing out of touch
  4. Making it all about you
  5. Spinning the truth

1. Choosing the Wrong Words

Leaders use dramatic words to create a vision and gain attention. That’s good. I’m all for colorful language and exciting words. But leaders lose credibility when the words are too big or small for the situation at hand.

I once worked with a leader whose rally cry of the year was, “we’re in the fight of our lives.”

Now, it’s true the competition was fierce, and we needed every brain, heart, and hand actively engaged in the struggle.

The trouble was many in her audience were literally in the fight of their lives in one way or another: the second bone marrow transplant, a dying sister, and a son still in Iraq.

I could see these dedicated leaders squirm when she said these words. Sure they knew what she was trying to say, but the words did not inspire the cause.

Leadership credibility requires being in tune with your team and what’s on their hearts and minds and making sure your words reflect your empathetic approach.

It works the other way too. Words can be too small. If you want more leadership credibility,  if it’s time to be impressed, be impressed.

Don’t say, a project was okay when you should have said Wow! 

2. Being Close, Yet So Far Away

Leaders don’t necessarily need to be able to do the job of the people on their team to have leadership credibility, but they do need to understand it. I was talking to a sales VP the other day who was fantastic at building long-term strategic relationships with his prospects and clients

His boss was losing real leadership credibility with him because he was asking him to call his prospects EVERY DAY to check-in. The sales VP KNEW that was the easiest way to frustrate his prospects.

He couldn’t imagine a worse approach. He knew his relationships (and long track record of success) worked because of deep trust and long-term commitment, nagging would have been an immediate turn-off.

His boss did not understand the art of relationship selling, and he lost leadership credibility because of his bad advice.

3. Appearing Out of Touch

A close cousin to #2, leaders lose credibility when they can’t relate to the personal circumstances of their teams. The other day, I heard a customer service VP on stage talking to a team of call center reps trying to inspire great customer service.

She shared, “if you’ve ever been on a Disney Cruise, that’s the kind of service I need you to provide.”

These reps were worried about putting food on the table and gas in the car. The sentiment was spot on, but she needed another example.

4. Making it All About You

authenticity mistake: oversharing personal informationExecutives often try to build leadership credibility by taking on an almost celebrity persona.

They encourage people to ask them lots of questions about their background, career path, and advice. And of course, It’s great to share.

But leaders lose credibility when they talk about themselves without turning the tables and taking a genuine interest in others.

To gain leadership credibility, listen more than you talk. Ask provocative questions. Get to know their background, hopes, and dreams. Provide opportunities for others to share.

5. Spinning the truth

Of course, some strategy and information is confidential. If you can’t share, say that.

But masking the truth with spin, far-fetched positioning, and other bologna will diminish your leadership credibility fast. People will see through it and wonder what else, you’re not saying.

You’re working too hard to build credibility with your team and organization to throw it away with a sloppy mistake. Pay attention to these potential derailers. Get others involved, sometimes they’re too subtle to see from where you sit.

Looking to gain more leadership credibility and build trust and connection with your team?

Download the first chapter of Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates for FREE here.Courageous Cultures

Are you looking for training and leadership development to take your organization to the next level? We can help. Give us a call at 443/750-1249 or reach out to us at [email protected] to learn more.

See Also:

How to Be a More Courageous Manager

How to Gain More Trust With Your Team in the New  Year

 

Want more human-centered leaders in the workplace? Share this today!

Want more human-centered leaders in the workplace? Share this today?

31 Comments
  1. Bob Whipple "The Trust Ambassador"

    I think that lack of humility is the most significant way leaders lose credibility. When leaders feel aloof, they become disconnected with the reality on the ground with people, and bad things start to happen.

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Bob, I totally agree. Thanks for adding that. I’ve seen that really become an issue again and again.

      Reply
    • bill holston

      So agree! I think humility is right at the top of necessary character traits. Admitting when you are wrong, apologizing for errors, and giving credit to others. great point.

      Reply
  2. Alli Polin

    I’ve lived through and with every one of them. Hopefully I haven’t been a perpetrator. In one situation we were designing a new org structure and getting ready for a significant downsizing. Unfortunately, some very pointed questions were met with reassurances by the senior leader and put the rest of the leadership team in a tough bind.

    Change starts with awareness…

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Alli, Thanks for sharing your story. False reassurances are dangerous, and very difficult to forget.

      Reply
  3. Steve Borek

    Take a team member’s idea and suggest how to make it better. Once they add their two cents, the team member’s idea is now the leaders idea. It’s an order to do it their way vs. the team members way.

    Leaders, stay out of the way and do less.

    Empower vs. deflate.

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Steve, Oh that’s a really good subtlety. Thanks so much for adding that.

      Reply
  4. Dallas Tye

    Maybe related to ‘All About Me’ however worth a mention I think.

    – Leaders who approach things from a point of fear.

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Dallas, Oh that’s totally worth a mention. In contrast to how some leaders act, fear does not build respect.

      Reply
  5. bill holston

    Knowing the teams jobs is essential. I was a long time volunteer at this agency in one program. I made sure to handle one of the cases personally for the other program once taking this job. I wanted to know 1st hand what it was like to handle those cases. It accomplished three things: 1. It communicated to my supervisor of that program I cared about her program, 2. I gained practical knowledge and 3. Formed my own story for fundraising.

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Bill, What a great example. Love it. So true about #3 being able to share your personal story goes a long way in building credibility.

      Reply
  6. Bill Benoist

    Hi Karin,

    I would add leaders who fail to communicate when followers need to hear from them the most.

    I can use the 2008 recession as an example. When everything was going well, we would often hear about it. When things changed, many companies I know of went silent until the first round of layoffs. It was a very ugly time and I know many people who lost credibility in the leadership of their companies because the silence was worrisome for them.

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Bill, Great addition. Yes, in times of stress people need more communication not less.

      Reply
  7. Terri Klass

    Another subtle way leaders lose credibility is by telling others that their ideas or suggestions have been used before and just won’t work. Instead of looking at the possibility that other factors may have changed, they automatically “nix” the idea and in turn the individual “nixes” the leader. I have seen this over and over again. Keeping an open mind is critical and empowering to those around us.

    Thanks Karin for a great post!

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Terri, That’s a great addition as well. Not only do they lose credibility, they’re likely to shut down future ideas and brainstorming.

      Reply
  8. Susan Foster

    Karin, LOVED this article! So many good things in it.

    Susan

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Susan, Thanks so much.

      Reply
  9. Tom Smith

    Lack of transparency — not being “real,” reliable, responsive or responsible.

    No one is perfect. A leader that admits his imperfections and missteps will earn the trust of those (s)he is leading more quickly than a leader who does not.

    Failure to “do what you say you will do, when you say you will do it.”

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Tom, Great adds. Thank you. We can go a long way by admitting our imperfections.

      Reply
  10. Jeremy Mott

    Beforeour boss arrived for a meeting, a consultant talked candidly with a group of us who were working on a database marketing project.

    We told him that things weren’t very far along, and that we needed his help — despite what stories in the trade press had said about our success.

    Then the boss arrived and acted as if we had achieved all of our major goals. Things were peachy. “That’s not what I’ve heard from your staff,” said the consultant.

    Realizing he had been caught in a distortion of the truth, the boss admitted, “Well, I guess maybe our press releases have preceded our performance.”

    My point: You really do have to be honest with your team and your partners if you want their respect. You can try to fool yourself and your competitors but not the people who do the work.

    Reply
    • David Dye

      Wow! “our press releases have preceded our performance” – what a wild spin. Not the way to win trust.

      Reply
  11. Jon Mertz

    Karin,

    Well said. Credibility is something we build over times and, with a few wrong moves or words, we can destroy our credibility in a flash. This isn’t about being risk averse but about being thoughtful in what we undertake.

    Great points!

    Jon

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Jon, So true. I so agree, it’s about being truly thoughtful and understanding the impact we are having.

      Reply
  12. Mary Joan Modderman

    I sincerely enjoyed reading your comments and feel it wise to suggest “know your audience/client” to suggest the CULTURAL views can be entirely different – especially working with disabled children and how a family wants to pursue intervention — or not. As O T’s it is critical that we understand exactly where our families mind set is and how to help without hurting.

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Mary Joan, So glad to have you joining the conversation. You really raise an important point here… helping without hurting.

      Reply
    • David Dye

      Very true – a critical perspective and vital to consider those cultural viewpoints.

      Reply
  13. Steve Jamar

    Starting memos with illogical statements like: “hard to establish” does not balance with “even easier to lose.” Credibility is hard to establish, but easy to lose. “even easier” implies that credibility was easy to establish. and the “and” should have been a “but”. I know what you intended, and agree with it, but keep getting caught on the first line.

    Far more seriously — leaders can be bullies, or can be nice; they need to be either respected or liked. That is not the main concern. The main, A, Number 1 concern is simply insight. Do they see how to have the group accomplish its task and organize things to reach the desired result effectively? Some situations require ent moot type consensus building meetings and others require imperial directiveness. Sometimes a mediating strategy is best; sometimes that is the worst approach. Distinguishing important things from unimportant — that is critical and many of the worst people I’ve worked with simply lack that ability.

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Steve, Great insights and word choice coaching. I’m going to change up the wording now as you suggest. I also agree with you that a vital part of leadership is distinguishing what’s most important and supporting the team in accomplishing that end. Great to have you joining the conversation. I do hope you’ll return.

      Reply
  14. Rhon

    I’d add taking all the work (maybe not just the credit for the work done) because leaders feel they know better than their subordinates. It’s subtle because some well-intentioned leaders mistake empowering vs giving one-downs a break. Though sometimes helpful, it gives the message that leaders can do without the people who report to them.

    Reply
    • Karin Hurt

      Rhon, Great addition! Thanks.

      Reply
    • David Dye

      That’s an important subtlety and can compromise empowerment.

      Reply

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Karin Hurt

Karin Hurt helps human-centered leaders find clarity in uncertainty, drive innovation, and achieve breakthrough results.  She’s the founder and CEO of Let’s Grow Leaders, an international leadership development and training firm known for practical tools and leadership development programs that stick. She’s the award-winning author of four books including Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates and Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Workplace Conflict, and hosts the popular Asking For a Friend Vlog on LinkedIn. A former Verizon Wireless executive, Karin was named to Inc. Magazine’s list of great leadership speakers. Karin and her husband and business partner, David Dye, are committed to their philanthropic initiative, Winning Wells – building clean water wells for the people of Cambodia.

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