You don’t just walk into a room and gain credibility.
It takes time, consistency and sustained excellence.
You build credibility brick by brick, year by year, interaction by interaction.
Bob Dylan didn’t get it with a couple of great songs that he wrote in the 60’s, he did by continuing to write, record and perform for the 50 years since.
Warren Buffett didn’t get it through a quick-rich scheme, he did it through long-term investments that paid off over decades.
Michael Jordan didn’t get it through a couple of fancy dunks, he did by winning 6 NBA championships.
Seth Godin didn’t get it through a couple of well-worded posts on his blog, he did it by making people think on a daily basis for almost 10 years.
Rick Warren didn’t get it through a couple of sermons that people found helpful, he did it by leading his church to sustained growth and by equipping thousands of pastors and leaders along the way.
Once you have credibility, you can lead, persuade, sell, teach, coach much more effectively.
Of course, then it can come crashing down in an instant.
It only takes one stupid statement or action.
One stain on a dress, one viral video and your credibility is lost forever.
I have two questions for you today.
What are you doing to build your credibility?
What do you need to protect yourself from so that you don’t lose it?
Previous post – Inspirational People – Anthony Robles
Next post – Getting “Go” and “Stop” in the Right Order
4 comments
Comments feed for this article
March 23, 2011 at 5:40 am
Ryan Chua
Credibility is very important to earn as a person. To earn credibility, you have to have people’s respect first, but before you can do that you should have self-respect too.
Credibility is earned through time, effort and a bit of charisma.
LikeLike
March 23, 2011 at 7:44 am
Darren Poke
Thanks Ryan, charisma can certainly help, but it can also be a hinderance to those who rely on it in place of character.
I like your point about self-respect, that’s very important.
LikeLike
March 23, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Debbie
I had never thought about credibility this way. Thank you! I’m thinking honesty and consistency might play a part in it all too. Believing in what you are doing so much that you would do it even if you weren’t getting any big pay off.
LikeLike
March 24, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Darren Poke
Very good points Debbie. Honesty and consistency are very important elements when building credibility.
LikeLike