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 tricky part? Some credibility killers aren't obvious. You might be accidentally undermining yourself with phrases that seem harmless.
Here's what to watch out for.
“Does that make sense?”
I used to be pretty bad with this one.
When you’re giving a presentation, it’s tempting to say, “Does that make sense?” a lot.
The problem: It signals you're seeking validation and signals underconfidence. You're asking people to confirm you communicated well enough, which puts doubt on everything you just said. (Did Steve Jobs ask, “does that make sense?” while unveiling the iPhone?)
Ditch it. Along with stuff that makes you sound uncertain — like: "Am I being clear?" "Did I explain that okay?".
Instead, just see if people have any comments/questions when you’re done:
Good: “Ok, that was a lot to take in there. Is there anything I can revisit?”
BUT here's when hedging actually works
When you genuinely don't know something, being direct about it builds credibility.
Say you’re a customer support rep in a technical meeting: "I don't have an engineering background, so I might not have the full context — but I've had three enterprise deals stall specifically because we can't do single sign-on. Is that something we could prioritize?”
You're acknowledging your knowledge gap while still contributing something useful.
The key: Be direct when you have conviction (like when giving a presentation). Be upfront when you don't.
…by the way, if you use LinkedIn, go to my profile and hit the ‘Follow’ button. I share a mix of practical career strategy and mid-week motivation — stuff that makes it easy to keep your career on track.
Topics coming up this week: Real examples of good and GREAT networking emails, hacks that have made me a better public speaker, and how to sound more confident (even if you’re an introvert). See you there.
alright, let’s get back to my essay…
Underselling beats overselling every time
The biggest credibility killer with experts: exaggerating what you've done or what you know.
I've sat in meetings where someone pitches themselves as having "deep expertise" in an area, then says something that reveals they've barely scratched the surface. The expert in the room clocks it instantly, and that person's credibility is shot.
Here's the pattern I've noticed: People who are genuinely impressive rarely lead with their credentials. You find out later they sold a company or built something significant. People who aren't impressive do the opposite - they front-load all their achievements, name-drop constantly, and talk in superlatives.
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 “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, keep things measured.
Avoid self-deprecation!
Self-deprecating lines like “I’m such a klutz at this” or “Aha I keep messing this 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 yet open to feedback, and it doesn’t undermine your own credibility.
Stick to meeting commitments
I had a senior manager who was chronically 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.
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 quick 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.
