The Fall 2018 MITSloan Management Review, first presented Why People Believe in Their Leaders - or Not on August 17, 2018.
With over three years of research, Daniel Han Ming Chng, Tae-Yeol Kim, Brad Gilbreath, and Lynne Andersson surveyed 145 respondents from the US service industry and evening MBA students from varying work experiences to try and understand the greater foundation belief in leadership competence and trustworthiness.
This short article describes some of the identified characteristics associated with building and eroding credibility. Moreover, the author’s charted the top traits as identified by the 145 respondents through the surveys nine point scale.
The three author provided insights, while not new to the study of leadership or organizational management, are worth noting down and reflecting upon.
The behaviors that assist in the gaining or loss of credibility are not mirror images of one another and do not carry the same wighted impact.
Depending on the situation, positive information will carry more weight and vise versa.
Overcoming a loss in credibility is difficult - not impossible.
Fact or fiction, you be the judge of this lightly referenced explanation. In todays environment, where is the separation between honest mistake and credibility elimination. Follow on research might look to see what effect the zero defect mentality with regard to profit, social commentary or professional misstep has upon the decision making formulations of senior leaders and CEOs. When failure is no longer an option, what path must leadership take?
