I have often taught that to be a good leader you need four Cs. Most people will guess character fairly quickly, some will guess capable, rarely someone will guess compatible. These are all essential for leadership – you have to be a godly man, you have to be able to do the job, and you have to be able to work well with others. But no one ever guesses the fourth C, it’s like the forgotten ingredient of success, and it is credibility.
Everyone reading this blog post will know that at certain points in their life they had a lot of credibility, at others points they had less. You can gain it and lose it. Maybe you did something foolish, and you lost credibility with the people around you, maybe you did something awesome and you gained credibility. There is a reason credibility matters for you to have success – credibility opens the door to promotion.
Recently, a large UK ministry was advertising for a new CEO. A friend of mine asked if he thought he should apply. I said I wouldn’t if I was you, and the reason I said that was because he lacked credibility, and the people there would find it hard to follow him. He has the character, the capability and I reckon the compatibility, but that’s not enough. Credibility is the key to a new job, it’s the key to every promotion. Think about it – every time you have grown to a new level, there has been attached to that some increase in your credibility.
In our selfie culture, it’s funny to watch in public people trying to take a picture. They will move around to all sorts of strange angles to get the best possible image. But that is for their Facebook, and real life is not social media! We sometimes cannot step to the next level because we have not taken the right picture yet. And only time can get that right. Have you ever wondered why Jesus did not start preaching at age 9? Lack of credibility. He grew in favour with men (Luke 2.52) – as Jesus grew up, what He did and said gave him more and more credibility with people.
Recently I was at a large conference and they put me on the front row. I wouldn’t have been the first choice in my mind, but that’s what they did. It then happened twice again in two more conferences. I asked the Lord about this, and the Lord told me – they feel safe with you, they feel that they are in safe hands with you at the front. That’s credibility, you build it up over time, you cannot microwave it.
Anyone can open up a restaurant, but to survive you need repeat customers – and that takes one thing – you guessed it – credibility. The only proof that a restaurant is good is people going there. The only thing that verifies you are a success is people seeing you as successful.
I get equal parts frustration and equal parts humour with the current obsession in our society with life coaches. People who I would never call for advice are setting themselves up as life coaches, they have been on this course and that course, they have a website, they have a presence on social media, but what they do not have, and the reason they are making less a month than I could make in a day’s manual labour is a lack of credibility.
You need to work on credibility. The first level of credibility is credible ability. You know if I am going to take a week out of my busy life and go to a conference on how to plant churches for example, then my very first question will be – how many churches has each speaker planted? If the answer is 0 or 1 or 2, then I might as well stay at home and read a book. I have met more than one person who wants to be a pastor of pastors without ever having pastored. Work on this first – want to be an expert in your field, then get in the field and get your hands dirty. People who want to develop in any field can smell someone who has not lived where they live. Make sure you are a lifelong learner. Before we talk about love, honesty, patience and all the character stuff – this is the first level – can you actually do the job?
Some people want to bypass that level of credible ability by replacing it with friendship. Hire me, I am your friend. Make me an elder, I am a nice guy. Friends help friends. No – all credibility starts with ability. It does not end there, but it starts there. I love my sons with all my heart, they are all heroes, but if they have not gone out there and passed a driving test, and I am convinced of their capability, they are not taking my car out for a spin! That’s nothing to do with whether I love them or not. I have been accused of not loving people because I won’t let them take my pulpit out for a spin, but they have never done one thing to learn how to drive a sermon!
The second level of credibility is credible amicability. Can you get on with this person? I know a few Christian travelling preachers that can preach well, but I will not invite to preach because you cannot get on with them. Their theology is wrong – they think they are God! It doesn’t matter how well you play the guitar if the sound team are literally drawing straws because no one wants to talk to you! Some people are promoted not just because of ability, but because of amicability. They are just likeable. Work on that! It’s not enough on its own, but it is the icing on the cake of ability. If you ignore this as unimportant, you are hindering your success and potential. Be polite to people, all people, smile, have energy that radiates from you rather than being a drain. You can have a great heart to serve, but if you are doing it like you are under a personal grey cloud, it makes people uncomfortable. Every worth doing will inevitably be a team activity. Be a positive person, stop whining and moaning – that is the biggest step in this area. Smile, be the first to say hello, and value the people around you – and when you speak, speak words of life and blessing.
The third and highest level of credibility is credible dependability. Are you trustworthy? Do you keep your word? Will you run off with the choir director? Do whatever it takes to keep your character, even if it means you quit your job.
You know if you go to the west End to watch a musical, or if you go to the local village hall to watch some amateur drama – anything can happen. Someone could trip, someone could get the wrong line, or whatever. The one thing all these actors are taught is this – whatever happens, stay in character. No matter what comes at you, stay in character.
That’s advice for you today as well – no matter what happens, stay in character. Do not compromise because it is tough, taking longer than you think, unfair, or anything else. Don’t break character in difficult situations.
Work on these three and you will have credibility.
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