A521.3.4.RB – Credibility

Credibility

            According to Whalen (2007), when leaders possess a high-credibility as a communicator, they will have more enjoyment when they experience control over their current state of communicating.  Having the power of a presentation, a leader endowed to a leader’s persuasive power.  As a leader, having credibility empowers our staff to find us a reliable source for decision making and concise information that affects them in our workplace  Having credibility can also be translated into an improved workforce performance under our supervision and fruitful relationship with our clients, vendors, and stakeholders.

            Whalen (2007) had given us five pillars of credibility to enhance our credibility in the eyes of our audience.  For the purposes of this study, the following are three of the five credibility pillars according to Whalen: The first credibility pillar is Expertise – You are what you know.  In this pillar, we can demonstrate our expertise as we are in the process of presenting our innovative ideas where we reasoned our knowledge and expertise through accuracy and speed and how well we recapitulate technical terms to our workforce.  The second credibility pillar is Trustworthiness.  Trustworthiness is of utmost importance to be an efficient and effective leader.  Leaders cannot expect for their workforce to trust every word they during the first time of their meeting.  Trust has to be earned and will take some time to build.  Lastly, the third credibility pillar is Goodwill for your audience.  Whalen (2007) stated that leaders can manipulate and build their audience or workforce’s perception of goodwill in the process of their communication.  This is where the listeners make the decision of the level of the dimension of the leader’s credibility.

            Of the three pillars of credibility that Whalen (2007) has given us, I found it necessary to develop the credibility pillar of my expertise.  Further expanding my knowledge and expertise in all aspect of human resources, federal and state employment guidelines and compliance related issues, will result in the workforce of my organization in trust every guidance I give when consulted and will also reduce the disaccord within my team.  Reducing workplace or departmental issues/conflicts can only result in a high-level of performance within the workplace and most specifically to my team.  Once I established expert power, my team will inherently seek for my direction, and it will result in furthering my career profession, i.e., promotion and most importantly, respect and trust from the workforce, vendors, and stakeholders within my organization.

Action Plan to Achieve the Credibility Pillar of Expertise

            Education and Competence.  To be successful in developing my expertise, I have to continue to further my education and competence.  When members of our workforce and my direct reports see and accept my honesty of not having all the answers to their questions and concerns, but make every effort and willingness to gather needed responses, it will result in earning their trust and respect. 

            Actions, Focused, and Accountability.  To be a credible leader, I need to lead by my actions and example.  I cannot ask my subordinates or members of our workforce to something that I refuse to do.  Leading by example means having the willingness to accomplish individual and group tasks that are critical to the team’s success.  I have to focus on performing and achieving the team and organizational goals as a whole.  Lastly, I have to hold myself accountable for every actions and decision I take to the extent of owning up to the mistakes and make an offering or taking critical steps to correct or resolve the mistake.

            Loyalty, Trust, and Respect.  To gain credibility, as a leader I have the need to earn my team’s loyalty and ensure that they know that it is their best interest is my primary focus.  Standing of for them when they need it most and trusting them in accomplishing their tasks and responsibilities without my constant direction.  When I believe that my team will perform their functions without my continuous input on how to achieve their duties and responsibilities, I will gain and earn their confidence and respect in my ability to lead them.  Showing respect to them even in the midst of maintaining a position that poses authority over them, will help gain their loyalty, respect, and trust. 

Conclusion

            As a human resources professional, I have the opportunity to develop and influence a workplace setting that is focused on the integration of work and life or life and work visa vi.  Workplace flexibility can now be a new paradigm in the workplace environment.  We need to focus more on setting a value on the contributions of our workforce and focus less on the physical hours worked by our employees.  If organizations like mine embrace progressive practices like two-way mentoring and workplace agility, employee retention rate will increase, as well as an increase in employee satisfaction and employee morale, and we will be more competitive in attracting top caliber talents or candidates. 

Winston and Patterson (2006) described leadership as shaping the followers’ values, attitudes, and behaviors towards risk, failure, and success.  They further indicated that leadership is creating and sustaining peace in the organization-not a lack of conflict but a place where peace grows.  Whenever a leader influences the follower's values, the followers develop the willingness to be more agreeable on the leader’s initiatives and trust that the leader will lead his/her team to success.  When the team is successful, it brings pride and self-confidence to every member of the team.  When every member of the team is confident, well-engaged and empowered, peace within the organization is sustained and inevitable.

References

Molinsky, A. & Newfield, J. (2017). How to gain credibility when you have little experience.

Harvard Business Review.  Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2017/10/how-to-gain-credibility-when-you-have-little-experience.

Root, G. N. (n.d.). Ten ways to build credibility as a leader. Retrieved from:

            http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ten-ways-build-credibility-leader-20954.html.

Whalen, J.D. (2007). The Professional Communications Toolkit. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Publications

Winston, B. & Patterson, K. (2006). An integrative definitions of leadership. International

            Journal of Leadership Studies. Retrieved from:

http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/ijls/new/vol1iss2/winston_patterson.doc/winston_patterson.pdf.