Want To Have Credibility As A Leader?

The most important ability a leader needs is to know how to communicate effectively. You could have the best ideas but without knowing how to say things to different people in a way that emotionally resounds within them, you will never effect a change big enough to gain credibility as a leader. There isn't much to understanding another person's point of view and knowing how to influence their thought process if you are willing to do two things: listen (really listen) and eliminate the excuses. Listening effectively is making eye contact, eliminating distractions, and repeating back what you think someone is saying in your own words back to them. The eye contact shows that you are paying attention. Eliminating the distractions allows you to provide an environment that makes the person feel special and comfortable with you. And it also ensures that you both can complete a thought without others in your conversation.The ability to take a person's words and summarize their thought effectively back to them achieves a level of understanding that could not be achieved otherwise.Telling a person what they mean is the only way for them to clarify and refine their statements until you are both on the same page. Eliminating the excuses is key because people tend to lean on the "it's not my fault" mentality whenever possible. Teaching the people you lead that you are willing to allow them to fail and learn while maintaining a standard of behavior and competance shows that you care about your people. You expect them to perform to their best ability and you respect them enough to hold them to their best. Similarly, you will be expected to perform to your best ability as their leader. Eliminate the excuses and make your people take responsibility for their performance! Building credibility with your people is only possible with a clear understanding and application of these principles.