Credibility is about being trusted and seen as good at your job. It's what makes people believe in you, listen to you, and follow your lead.
I like to say credibility is your professional “currency.”
The more credibility you have, the more trust people put in you. That means you get to do more important work, lead bigger teams, and get promoted more often.
And when you have less credibility, it's tough to get your team to listen or agree with you, or seniors to trust you. It makes your job much harder.
The problem:
Some of the ways you can lose credibility are quite counter-intuitive.
So, to help you build a nest egg of credibility at work, here’s a few credibility “killers” we should be careful to avoid.
😕 “Does that make sense?”
I used to be really bad at this one!
When you’re giving a presentation and you see confused faces after delivering a lot of information, it’s tempting to say, “Does that make sense?”
But here’s the problem:
It subtly hints that the problem is with your presentation (or presentation skills), which decreases your credibility. (Did Steve Jobs ask, “does that make sense?” while unveiling the iPhone? I doubt it.)
Use this instead:
- Good: “Ok, that was a lot to take in there. Is there anything I can revisit?”
This small rephrase focuses on their questions, not your competence.
🐺 Always crying “wolf”
Over-exaggerating problems will make you lose credibility at work.
For example:
If you’re a manager and you’re constantly telling your sales team that every potential deal is “make or break” for the company, you’re slowly etching away at your credibility. When a seriously large deal comes your team’s way, your attempts to rally support and resources won’t be taken seriously enough.
Similarly, if each time you run into an issue at work and bring it up in team meetings as a big deal, you’re gonna make a name for yourself as the person who makes mountains out of molehills.
Then, when something actually is really bad, you’re going to be the classic “boy who cried wolf”.
Of course, you might need to sometimes complain about, or exaggerate some things, to get what you want at work. But, always doing it is a credibility killer.
🔜 “I’ll do it tomorrow.”
There’s only one occasion when you can get away with saying this - when you’re actually going to do it tomorrow.
But every other time?
It’s a credibility-killer.
Because when we promise people things we can’t deliver, it erodes their trust in us, and leaves our word worthless.
If you don’t know when you can get something done, resist the temptation to commit / people-please. Instead, say this:
- Good: “Sure, no problem. Let me take a look at my calendar, and I’ll let you know about a deadline”
📅 Stick to meeting commitments
I had a manager who was always late. Not just by 5 minutes, but often 20, 30, or he'd even miss meetings. Worse, he'd let his disregard spill over into the next meetings, often causing those to start late or run over too.
He was super senior, so I feel he thought he could get away with it.
And sure, no one in his team said anything. But we all had little respect for his word. Among us, he had no credibility => lower professional currency.
No matter how senior you are, don’t take people’s time for granted:
- If you’re going to be late, send a note in advance.
- If you’re running a meeting, stick to the time you scheduled in. If you need more time, explicitly ask if everyone can stay longer.
Your word matters (not just at work, but in life). Don’t get into the habit of not sticking to it.
🤐 “I’m not sure if I’m right, but…”
This is a sneaky one. Sometimes we use disclaimers like “I’m no expert, but…” or “I’m probably wrong here…” before we share an idea. It might seem polite, but it lowers your perceived confidence and authority — especially if you actually do know your stuff.
Likewise, self-deprecating lines like “I’m such a klutz at this” or “Aha I keep messing htis up, but…” can chip away at how seriously people take you. With friends or family, it might feel endearing; at work, people who don’t know well you might form the wrong impression of you.
- What it implies: “I don’t trust my own knowledge or perspective, so you shouldn’t either.”
- What to do instead: If you’re making a guess, say, “Here’s my take—feel free to poke holes in it.” That’s direct yetopen to feedback, and it doesn’t undermine your own credibility.
⛓️ Barbed statements
“You never do anything right.” “Why do you never listen?”
Everyone makes mistakes, and there’s gonna be times in our careers when we need to call people out. The problem here is getting carried away by our emotions, and making broad statements with words like never.
I call these statements “barbed”. Because like a barbed fish hook, once they go in, it’s very hard to get them out.
Why are they dangerous?
Because statements like “why do you never listen?” are always false. People do listen. Just not all of the time.
Remember, correct the action, not the colleague.
