Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It: Why People Demand it

Earning Credibility

“You cannot follow someone who isn't credible, who doesn't truly believe in what they're doing—and how they're doing it,” said Gayle Hamilton, chief of staff for the senior vice president at Pacific Gas and Electric. And this viewpoint goes a long way toward explaining why Gayle has always preferred to stay close to those she leads, going back to the decision she made as a division manager to keep her office right next to the train tracks where her crew worked, rather than move to a plusher corporate setting. As she explained: “I don't think people enjoy working for long stretches for someone who won't be part of what's happening.”

Leaders like Gayle know that credibility is something that is earned over time. It does not ...