Rebuilding Personal Credibility

If you have made mistakes, even serious ones,
there is always another chance for you.
What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down.

Mary Pickford

Have you ever had a moment that you wish you could take back and do over?

You know the one. It makes your stomach turn and palms sweat every time you think of it. It cost you credibility in the eyes of others—even in your own eyes.

I have great news!

No, I can't show you how to rewind time, but I do know that every passing minute is another opportunity to turn it all around.

Rarely is credibility lost forever. What counts is

• strong character;
• honesty; and
• taking ownership and moving things in a positive direction.

I have met people who would rather walk away from a difficult situation and start over somewhere else rather than

• accept responsibility for what happened,
• address the key issues, and
• rectify the wrong.

They are missing an enormous opportunity.

No one is perfect. We are all human. Everyone can make a mistake, say the wrong thing, miss a deadline, or forget an important detail. It's what we do AFTER the error that truly defines our character.

Recognizing and admitting to your mistake, then determining what can be done to correct the unhappy result, will demonstrate your true leadership and intent.

If the offended parties are still willing to talk to you, there is your golden opportunity. You can show you really are a problem-solver and person of substance and integrity.

This next step is not for the faint-hearted. In fact, this subject has likely made you very uncomfortable. If it hasn't, then you are perfect and obviously not from the same planet as the rest of us. There's much to lose by not restoring your credibility and much more to be gained by attempting to do so.

Next time you find yourself reliving a gut-wrenching moment you wish you could erase,

• pick up the phone,
• drop by with a gift or card to talk in person, or
• make a personal connection to reopen the lines of communication and ask for the chance to change the outcome.

The worst that can happen is that you are refused. You still will have won back some credibility with others and with yourself by showing the desire to make things right.

Points to Ponder This Month

• Is there a recurring area in your life that constantly costs you credibility? What can be done to change it?
• What has leaving a credibility issue unresolved cost you in business or in your personal life?
• If someone who has lost credibility in your eyes came to you genuinely ready, willing, and able to change things, would you refuse that person the opportunity to try?

If you are in a leadership position, also see http://jazzypromotions.blogspot.com/2008/12/becoming-oak-among-squash.html .

When you finally know what you really want, you want it to start RIGHT NOW!

They say:

• Patience is a virtue ...
• Haste makes waste ...
• Good things come to those who wait ... blah, blah, blah!
  

Have you ever finally figured out exactly what it is you wanted?

It may have been as trivial as a pair of shoes, skis or golf clubs. It may have been more life altering, such as the perfect car, house with the ideal kitchen ... and walk-in closet, ideal job opportunity or your soul mate ... Whatever it was for you, picture yourself in the exact moment when you KNEW it was right ...

Are you there?

Good.

THAT is the moment where YOUR passions, knowledge, abilities and strengths collided. Did anyone need to motivate you to go after what you truly wanted?

You have just discovered the true secret to motivating others.

Now RARELY are your staff going to be THAT passionate about the work you ask them to do. But if you can get them to reveal their Core Values, Strengths and Interests to you ... and to themselves ... you are on the road to finding out how to retain employee loyalty both to your company AND to your bottom line.

What is good for your employees is also good for YOU! If you are that passionate and motivated about your business every morning when you wake up, you will set the world on fire!

Okay, maybe not the world, but you will light up your clients and draw to you people who truly need or want what you have to offer!

Don't believe in the power of attraction?

Your thoughts manifest themselves in your attitude toward everything you do. Put it this way: Who would you rather have build your deck - someone who looks as though he'd rather be in his 5 o'clock world or someone who LOVES thinking about, designing and building beautiful, functional, stable and affordable decks?

My suggestion is not to find ways to hype the company and rally your staff, but to discover ways to link TRUE passions to the work.

For instance, a sanitation engineer may not be enthusiastic about garbage, but may love being paid to work out, the thrill of jumping on and off a moving truck, being outdoors rather than in a stuffy office, throwing things and early mornings. Encourage and respect those key elements and you can continue to motivate your sanitation crew through the stickiest festering summer routes! You will also attract potential hires who value the same things as your workers spread positive word-of-mouth about their workplace!

As people become more connected to their position and feel the support from their employer, they will step into a leadership mentality about their role within the organization. It is VITAL to encourage this step. Imagine a company full of employees who "OWN" their positions and their credibility as part of the team!


Use these two assessments for Self-Development and/or for teambuilding!!




Online Personal Style Indicator (PSI) helps you understand your own strengths and preferences and recognize the strengths of others, communicate more effectively with those who are inherently different and work more efficiently to build on each others' strengths for common goals!

The Online Values Preference Indicator (VPI) helps you identify your true top (and bottom) Core Values, learn the related fears and needs that filter all your perceptions and drive all your decisions and discover how to better honour your Core Values and the values of those around you!

Blogging With Credibility

Stop the NOISE!

So many people have opinions they want to voice when crisis strikes close to home, at election time and ... well ... when everyone else is voicing their opinions.

Let's think about this for a moment.

• Say you openly share your personal political views with a potential client you've been wooing for months. Say your favourite party wins and then makes a mess of the system ... in the eyes of that potential client, who asks himself "What idiots voted this government in anyway?" ... and remembers you ... as the idiot? Or ... your party does NOT get in power and the party who does makes wise and prudent decisions and gains popularity ... and you change your opinion ... Unless you make a living from your political opinions, keep politics out of your personal brand!

• In times of personal crisis are you a completely rational person? Or later, when someone calls you on a bad decision you made, do you say "I was going through a crisis at the time."?People can build a solid reputation over a lifetime and completely destroy their credibility with half their audience in a paragraph.

King Solomon, the wisest king in history, left us these words:

• "A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness" Pr 12:23 and

• "He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; when he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive." Pr 17:27-28

In a time when so many people have so many things to say, it's hard to hear what's right. Here's what we do know:

• The sun will rise tomorrow.
• This too shall pass.
• People's words - written and spoken - are permanent. They will either be judged as fools or considered right.
• Those who do not panic and offer advice and opinions but forge ahead, keeping their lives and businesses credible and useful will be recognized, respected and trusted.

Please, if you have opinions you are compelled to share:

1. Look at your vision and mission statements.
2. Review your values.
3. Make sure that everything you say reflects these things.
   

• If it doesn't it is not in the best interests of you or your organization to express these opinions.
• If it will not help to better establish your brand and there's a possibility of hurting your brand, don't do it.

Write your opinions in a journal which you can publish years from now ... if it turns out your opinions proved correct. In the meantime, stay grounded, stay on purpose, know yourself and be your brand.