Empowerment is about more than having power and exhibiting it. In fact, it is also about the image you represent, your personal branding, and what qualities or skills people associate you with. As such, being empowered is directly connected to being credible in your circle. More specifically, the more credible you are to others, the more leadership you exude, and the more others look up to you as their first point of contact when they look for someone with expertise and know-how. Being credible is key to being empowered and subsequently to being influential within your workspace. To be a competent reader, you must build credibility. Throughout this article, we will be covering questions such as how to increase your credibility, as well as the main differences between objective and subjective credibility to help you land your dream job (or improve your credibility within your current job).
Objective Credibility: What’s on Paper?
On one hand, we have objective credibility. This kind of credibility is the easiest of the two to build. This refers to the kind of credibility that is based on facts, diplomas, as well as experience. If you have a diploma from the top school in your industry, you are more likely to have solid objective credibility than someone who has studied in a completely different field or someone who has not acquired any kind of diploma in the first place.
Additionally, this kind of credibility is shown through the hard skills you showcase. Hard skills are specific knowledge or competencies necessary for a specific job. These skills are easily measurable and can be demonstrated through practical demonstrations and educational certificates. Hard skills such as software development are examples of specialized skills. Likewise, a person’s proficiency in a specific language can be measured. Design is another example of a specialized skill set needed to perform a particular task. Hard skills help employers evaluate candidates more easily, and at the workplace, they help others see your credibility as someone in your position of leadership. Nevertheless, even if you have the best diploma in the building, or the most experience, someone else with more subjective credibility may end up receiving most of the recognition from others. As such, it’s important not to solely focus on objective credibility, but to also consider its subjective counterpart to increase your overall credibility as a competent leader.
Subjective Credibility: What’s on the Inside?
Unlike objective credibility, subjective credibility, on the other hand, is not something that you can prove with papers, diplomas, or experience. It is based on how you feel inside about yourself. More precisely, the way that you feel about yourself – confident, ready to take on the challenges – will show on the outside. If you are indeed confident and sure of yourself, this becomes visible. Your body language embodies this feeling, ensuring that others can also see this confidence and feel that you are credible. Think about it: when you trust people’s expertise, why is that the case? Of course, on the one hand, you may trust them because of the experience they have in the field. On the other hand, you are much more likely to trust someone who is outspoken, does not hold back from sharing their opinions, and who exudes tremendous confidence over someone who is shy and struggles to share their perspective. So, what does that mean? You must build charisma to have high subjective credibility! This is hard to build, but it is multiple times more powerful than objective credibility.
Charisma-Building for Increased Credibility
Charisma is a trait that we can all develop. It influences how others perceive you, how well you and your message are received, as well as the picture you paint of yourself. Building charisma is done step-by-step, and it can start with one that is as simple as smiling more. By showing your smile and positive attitude, you are already portraying yourself as someone that is welcoming and willing to speak to others. Likewise, it involves looking others in the eyes when they speak to show your interest and respect for what they have to share with you. You will want to speak directly to your audience, use their name, and find mutuality when speaking with them. Ultimately, by showing charisma, you entice others to feel connected to you – this is how subjective credibility is formed.
Your objective credibility is easy to improve. Subjective credibility, on the other hand, will take more work. Thankfully, this is something I can help you with! Intrigued? Contact me today for more information!
