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

Share Information, Give Feedback

Sharing information is essential to developing people's capacity, and to building and sustaining credibility. When there's a high degree of transparency, and when information is easily available and accessible, people come to trust their leaders, their team members, and their organizations. When it's hard to get, kept on a “need to know” basis, and hidden from view people can more easily become suspicious and cynical.22

Cheryl Breetwor, for example, held open strategy sessions when she was president of ShareData. Rather than closeting a small group of key executives to develop a strategy based on her own agenda, she held a series of meetings over several days and allowed the larger group to develop and help choose ...