Communicate, But Connect First With Your Credibility

John Maxwell is writing a new book titled Everyone Communicates, Few Connect and he is posting chapter drafts of his manuscript for comments at http://johnmaxwellonleadership.com/.

He is asking for comments and stories, even corrections. Here is a bit of my comment to Chapter 8; The Connector Creates an Experience Everyone Enjoys.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Credibility. To truly connect with an audience it takes credibility.

When I hear John Maxwell speak, I'm connected to the credibility he's built with me as I've tested the principles from his books and tapes over the years.

On a more personal, and closer to home level, the communication (words out of one's mouth, or fingers), is altered by the credibility the communicator has with us. The connectivity is more real, more often, we see them in real-time. Such connectivity causes problems when you have someone you deal with on a daily basis, especially when the results of their work is not up-to-par; that connectivity will affect the communication because of the credibility. They might laugh and even be encouraged, but due to the credibility issues, the connectivity is short-lived.

Because of that erosion the communication and connectivity was only good for momentary grins. The communicator’s credibility is tied to their level of leadership and the lower the level, especially the Position level, will cause serious damage if the others are being driven by management to learn from the communicator.

True connectivity has to be grounded in credibility.
.
I listen to a new pastor and he sticks to what I’m familiar with; credible. He brings up something I’m not familiar with……I’ll have to check out what he said, and get to know more about him, his past, and his doctrine before I connect well with him; he doesn’t have good credibility with me at-this-time.

Yet, I listen to John Maxwell, or Tim Keller, or John Piper and I have few filters engaged. They’re credibility with me already assumes a higher level of in my connectivity. I expect to connect with them because of the credibility they’ve built with me over the years.

Similarly, at work, whether communicating in person or email, my connectivity to the other person is driven by the credibility that person has with me, and even how I feel my credibility is with them. Much like Covey describes in The Speed of Trust, credibility and connecting well spins around how we walk the talk, our behavior, how capable we are, and the results we get.

Communicate, but connect first with your credibility.

Note: go to John Maxwell's link and read more about Everyone Communicates, Few Connect

Counterfeit Credibility

Googling counterfeit brought up over 7 million hits; counterfeit behavior 948,000.

Counterfeit means; made in imitation so as to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine; not genuine; forged: counterfeit dollar bills. Pretended; unreal.

Credibility means; capable of being believed; believable: a credible statement. Worthy of belief or confidence; trustworthy: a credible witness.

Counterfeit Credibility then means that one's credibility, or credible statement, or credible witness is an imitation, deceptive, not genuine, and deceptive.

Normal counterfeit behaviors that destroys others trust in us, AND one's trust in oneself include:

Technically telling the truth
Legally splitting hairs
Spinning the real issues
Withholding information (well, they didn't ask the right question)
Hidden motives and agendas
Passive-aggressive behavior
Being driven by circumstance and not conscience
Being two-faced; pretending to care
Pretending to pay attention
Being busy to look busy and not getting results
Not accepting the blame when it is your fault

To that end....

How Deep is Credibility?

Credibility is deep and I have no doubt that I'm not even scratching the surface on my understanding of it. In other words, I'm sure I have HUGE blind spots about my credibility, what I know about it in general, how my own credibility is perceived by others, and how well I trust others' credibility.

In The Speed of Trust, author Stephen M.R. Covey lays out "the 4 cores of credibility;" Integrity, Intent, Capabilities, and Results. He uses as an example how, in a court of law, the opposing sides will try to either build up, or tear down the witness by strengthening or weakening these 4 cores (page 43).

Life is much like that court of law; we treat others many times based upon what they can do for us, or how well we like them.

It's about credibility; always talk about people as if they were there, don't distort facts, tell the truth in ways it can be verify.

To that end...

The Heart of Excellence Video

Following Well resource: http://www.heartofexcellence.com/HoE-Videos.htm (video #2)

Essential Leadership Discipline: Following Well

Following Well simply has to be an Essential Leadership Discipline, and what my reading so much has to do with both.

I read more than the average person and naturally run across very little about following. By little I mean almost never. In the last year, and I keep up with stuff like this, I've only ran across about following in LindedIn (one article) and the Bible. Nothing else, yet without followers, without following, without following done well we can't have good leadership.

The first time I remember reading anything of substance, written by man, about following was in a discussion on LinkedIn http://tiny.cc/gMgQM. This discussion, in May of this year, led me to the article mentioned in the discussion, that led me to the book http://tiny.cc/2YWMV.

Now, I've researched and found some other things written about following and Ira Chaleff, Courageous Follower, has written and lectured extensively about the subject. Yet, and I know I'm grinding an ax, what is up with leadership leaders not talking about and writing about it?

Having said all that, maybe this is just another blind spot I've got. But one thing I do know, following well is not something that comes easy and everyday I hear someone talk about being a good leader, or developing leadership, or some such very important discipline. Yet....

Ponder the thought of how well people follow you. Think about how important it is to follow well. You can find more on "following" by yping "follow" in the search for this blog.

Read Well, Follow Well, Lead Well

Life and Circles

I like circles, even imperfect circles. Life is full of circles; what goes around comes around, and such.

Robust Evaluation and Correction is about circling. The Bible says something to the affect of "what you don't get right, God will circle it back to you; again and again and again, until you do get it right.

Covey, in The Speed of Trust, uses a "back-and-forth" circle as visual to better describe his five waves of trust and their intersecting aspects; See, Speak, Behave.

This is a great way to show that while life is not a list of things to check off, but it's not a trip around the block either.

In this circle of life, as this diagram shows, we speak, behave, see or behave, speak, see or speak, see, speak, behave, see, or.....you get the idea.

Collins, in Good to Great, had a similiar idea in mind with the whole Hedgehog thing. I picked up the Robust Evaluation and Correction in Dennis Bakke's Joy at Work.

In any event, we can't coast around the circle, or check things off our list(s), and think THAT'S IT - DONE!. Doesn't happen that way. I'm reminded of a woman I once heard say, "I don't do housework because it never stays done."

Nothing stays done, not in an earthly since anyway.

God Bless, pay attention, and circle-back.

To Trust, To Follow

To trust another person, doesn't that mean you have to follow well? Don't you need to be a good follower? Don't you need to be followed well?

Hmmm. Something to be pondering.