Hello C Factor Community,
We are at the halfway point of 2021. In the C Factor community, we graduated our second cohort last week and now we are getting to work on calling in our next cohort that begins September 20th (if you are looking for a community of managers/supervisors/leaders like you, check us out at cfactorcommunity.com to learn more about our September cohort).
CREDIBILITY has been on our mind this month and we end with a conversation around assessing credibility in others.
Your answer will depend very much on how you conceptualize the work of leadership and the "proof" that someone is qualified. But have you ever stopped and really thought about what matters the most to you in terms of credibility? Have you ever missed the mark on someone's credibility? (Hint: yes you have because we all have done this)
A story (surprised? I doubt it)
My business, Bravo cc, started 17 years ago with leadership programs for architects. I LOVE working with people in this industry and am endlessly fascinated by the field. There are many smart and talented architects who architect all the day long, creating amazing buildings all over the planet.
I am not an architect.
About three years into working with a client, word got back to me that an up-and-coming young architect had complained about me saying, "Why should we listen to her? She isn't even an architect."
Now, his incredulity would have made sense if I had asked to sit in on design meetings and give my two cents on their next project, but I was there for a singular purpose--to develop leaders at every level of the organization, something for which I consider myself a credible resource. But "Brad" didn't see it that way.
He was insulted that someone like me, a non-architect, was there to develop their people (including him as he had been put in a leadership program with me).
Two years after completing the program, Brad was promoted into a new role. His role meant that he would often be the lead on interview presentations to win work from new clients. I had consulted regularly with their leaders on these presentations, helping them create interviews that won the work. And I am damn good at it too.
Imagine my surprise when Brad was assigned the lead of his first interview and he reached out to little ol' me to come in and prep him and the team. (Please read this with an eye roll added for emphasis)
I agreed, because I am a nice person and I wanted him to succeed.
Succeed he did.
They won the work, and I added another win to my column as well.
Brad adjusted his understanding of credibility through that experience, seeing perhaps for the first time that one does not have to be an architect to work in the field.
We have all been Brad before, whether we want to admit it or not. We quickly assess someone's credibility based on our own assumptions and biases. For example, my therapist told me that when she was using dating apps to find a partner, she would not date anyone who didn't have a college degree.
She has a bias for formal education and believed it to be a condition for finding a qualified mate.
I giggle when I see people who put under education: "The school of hard knocks" knowing that she would not swipe right on their degree that came by way of experience.
I wonder what she missed on out in the dating pool of people who were incredibly bright and smart and interesting but didn't have a degree. (And I want to pause here and say it is OK to have standards and qualifications in something as important as a partner. That's not my point; my point is our biases can sometimes work against us)
So what do we do then to get better at assessing someone's credibility?
To round out the list-making, allow me to share how I assess someone's credibility.
#1: Substance > Style.
When I was teaching public speaking, I would introduce my students to research that found that an audience will rank a stylish speaker higher (who lacks substance) over a high substance speaker who lacks style.
Think politicians.
We elect people all the time who look the part, but have no idea what they are talking about.
When you really stop and listen, you soon see that they have a very surface-level understanding of the issues. It is human nature to be beguiled by charisma, the sharp-dressed orator who can win over the audience with their charm. I try to always resist their charm, searching instead for real substance.
#2: Integrity all the time, every time.
(I think C.S Lewis is credited with this saying).
I have little time or patience for a leader who does not hold themselves to the HIGHEST level of integrity.
This is perhaps why I have had a long-time leadership crush on Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines. Herb was known throughout his organization and industry as a man who always did the right thing.
When other airlines consistently put profit over people, he stuck to his original concept: People first, Customers Second, Shareholders third.
He KNEW that when you take care of your people they take care of customers and that means good returns for shareholders. He demonstrated this belief consistently by showing up, participating, and doing the work. He was a man of real integrity.
#3: Experience + Education = Expertise. I spent the first years of my career in academia, sure I would one day be a tenured professor.
I love research, writing, and teaching.
In terms of expertise, I always want to know the original source material, and I am down for a good rabbit hole expedition on a topic of interest to me. And while education is so critically important to building expertise, so too is experience.
Perhaps one of the best examples of education and experience leading to expertise is Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's story of her stroke. A brain researcher who has a stroke? Incredible. I encourage you to watch her outstanding TED Talk, "My stroke of insight".
Now it is your turn, how do you assess credibility in others?
How often do you stop and consider this question? Perhaps now you will keep it front of mind and get clear on what truly matters when you think credibility in leaders.
Libby
