Building your credibility at the workplace is a very important aspect of your career and the earlier you can build it, the more it can contribute to your future progress and growth. You can establish your level of credibility when other colleagues begin to trust you and accept that what you are saying is correct. In order to build credibility it is important to demonstrate your honesty and integrity in everything you do. Being reliable and trustworthy helps you to position yourself as a valuable employee who gets the job done. It also demonstrates your abilities and plays a crucial role at the time of pay increases, promotion and advancing your career.  

By building your level of credibility your ideas are heard and valued by your team. Apart from that, other team members will approach you for guidance and advice since they believe that they can trust you. The benefits you yourself receive are that your opinions and ideas are heard and valued. You may also be selected for opportunities to develop and grow as well as be groomed for taking over greater responsibilities.

HOW TO BUILD YOUR CREDIBILITY    

There are many ways in which we can build our credibility at the workplace. But it requires a lot more than just trust, knowledge and competence. By being enthusiastic and motivated about your job you can progress to a certain level. Even possessing expertise in your area can only take you so far. Ultimately credibility is the factor which will take you further up the ladder.

Your position or your role does not matter, in order to build your reputation and trustworthiness you have to earn it. It takes a lot of effort, consistency and time to build. Some of the areas we can focus on in order to succeed are given below :

1. COMMUNICATION SKILLS : Being able to communicate clearly plays an important role in being credible. Those people who pay attention, listen attentively and evaluate the topic under discussion and then make thoughtful and well-informed comments are perceived as being reliable and dependable. What is important is that, we strengthen our active listening skills by giving full attention to people who are speaking, Also, ask questions to clarify any points which are not understood.

When we are in communication with others verbally or in writing we should be clear in communicating our message. Avoid using any lingo or terminology, so that our message is transparent to all listeners or readers. Do not exaggerate the matter, try to be simple, clear and factual.

• TRANSPARENCY : It is very important to be open, candid and straightforward in all our interactions with others.  People tend to trust what is in front of them and what they can see. They are always hesitant when they need to guess what may be our intentions or motives. Transparency is a critical leadership role. It helps to build trust among team members and helps promote a high-performance culture. You can inspire trust among team members and colleagues when you talk openly about values, goals and objectives. Clients and suppliers will also learn to trust and respect you when you are open and transparent.

Another very important aspect relating to transparency is self disclosure. When you share information about yourself, family etc this shows that you are transparent. Doing so increases your standing with your team and colleagues as well.  

• KNOWHOW & EXPERTISE : Possessing knowledge and having the required capability in the field you are working in is also essential in demonstrating your credibility. The higher level of expertise, capability and knowhow you possess and can demonstrate in your work the greater your credibility.

To build your expertise, focus on and acquire greater knowledge in that area which is most relevant to your role in the organization. By focusing efforts your proficiency and knowledge will increase and you will not be overawed by the volume of knowledge you need to acquire. It is also important to stay up-to date on developments taking place in your field. It is only when you can show that you are well informed about industry trends and developments that people will look to you for your input and also trust your feedback.

At the same time it is important that you protect your reputation for knowledge and expertise by being open and clear on giving feedback on what you do not know. Because when you are guessing and giving information outside your domain there is always the risk of giving false or incomplete information which may lead to bad decision making. Wrong decisions can always lead towards damaging your credibility and undermining your reputation for being an expert in your field.  

No single thing creates credibility. Rather, a combination of things must be in place for you to establish your credibility Focusing on the above three areas can help you to build your credibility as by doing so you can inspire trust in employees and colleagues.

Credibility is especially very important if you are in a leadership role because your success as a leader is closely tied up to being able to inspire confidence, to be successful in the role you are in. A leader who is honest, and trustworthy is always considered credible and others depend on them. Credibility takes time to build and depends upon the level of competence and expertise you have been able to build over a period of time.   

My own working experience over the span of my career has shown me that credibility is a continuous process. The factors which are highlighted by credible people is that they are reliable and also trustworthy. It is based on the ability to show up at work consistently, focusing on and delivering on goals and accepting any failures gracefully.

Remember “Credibility, once lost, is lost forever.” — Arthur Miller