Communicating Credibility
Communicating with Internal and External Stakeholders
organizational/ communication climate
A communicators ability to influence is largely determined by the
credibility assigned her/him by an audience. In terms of communicating orally or in
written form to external stakeholders, the preceding discussions of audience, organizing
ideas and using evidence are instrumental in establishing ones credibility.
Credibility is the key
to successfully influencing others, whether your audience is internal or external
stakeholders. In order to successfully
influence team members, potential investors or your supervisors, each audience must
believe that you are knowledgeable, worthy of their trust and energetic. The more volatile a change environment, the more
credibility plays a factor in calming and assuring stakeholders.
Competence is
assigned to a leader based on her/his knowledge, expertise, intelligence, skills and good
judgment. In order for a leader to be
perceived as competent, s/he needs to provide a specific set of skills that an
organizational group needs at a given point in time. All
the knowledge in the world will not be perceived as valuable unless a group needs the
information and unless it is communicated skillfully.
Trustworthiness
is assigned based on a leaders character. A
leader must be perceived as honest and consistent in order to engender trust. Furthermore, trustworthiness is measured by a
leaders sincerity in relation to team members and organizational outcomes.
Dynamism is
comprised of a leaders perceived confidence, activity and assertiveness. Dynamic leaders communicate confidence, inspire
others to work harder and make sacrifices for the group (including working hard
themselves).
Optimally, a leader
will exhibit qualities that elicit the perception of credibility along all three
dimensions; however, a leader can be perceived
as highly competent, yet untrustworthy. Ones
credibility might change over time, depending upon work performance and based on the
interactions s/he has with co-workers.
Organizational members
and external stakeholders need to perceive leaders as competent and legitimate authorities
so that their messages are believed by internal and external stakeholders. Understanding credibility is essential for optimal
leader performance.
Assessing your
Credibility
Adapted From Hackman
& Johnson
This exercise is
divided into two parts. First, rate your
credibility using the form below. You will
need to choose a work situation in which credibility played a part. For example, this could be an interaction with a
supervisor, subordinate or external stakeholder, or a combination thereof. You will need to recall what happened during the
interaction generally and then measure your competence, trustworthiness and dynamism
according to the Likert-like scale for each element. In
short, this activity is a way for you to think through the elements of competence,
trustworthiness and dynamism in relation to your leadership style. Once you have reflected on these elements, complete
the form below.
SELF-ANALYSIS
Describe the situation
you have chosen: ________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_____
COMPETENCE
Experienced _____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ Inexperienced
Informed _____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ Uninformed
Skilled
_____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ Unskilled
Expert
_____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ Novice
Trained _____ _____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ Untrained
TRUSTWORTHINESS
Kind
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ Cruel
Friendly
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ Unfriendly
Honest
_____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ Dishonest
Sympathetic _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ _____
Unsympathetic
DYNAMISM
Aggressive _____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ Hesitant
Empathetic _____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ Meek
Bold
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ Timid
Active
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____ _____
_____ Passive
Second, consider the
following questions: How do others perceive
your credibility? How credible is your organization in the eyes of its
internal stakeholders? External stakeholders? What need to be done to enhance your personal
credibility? your organizations credibility?
Because credibility
and power are interdependent, the more skills you have for creating and utilizing both,
the more effective you can be as a leader-manager. The
next slide offers an example of how you can enhance credibility by sharing power with team
members.
See also Behaviors that Endanger Trust; Factors that may block the flow of information :