I was recently talking with a coaching friend who’s considering a professional transition.
A smart guy, he”s trying to communicate his credibility across the industry because he’s accepted the truth that when it comes to career changes, other’s perception of his ability is more important than his actual ability.
As he considered his next move, he reached out for help packaging his illegible skills into neat credibility containers.
My advice to him was to focus on the two components of credibility:
First, show others how you’ve done “it”.
What can you point to from your own journey as an entryway to credibility?
For this coach, a track record of personal progress (& failure) is a great starting point to earn credibility.
But there’s another side to the credibility coin.
The second side looks at how you’ve helped others. How you’ve navigated others’ problems and produced positive outcomes.
If you can tell stories that help others see a track record of helping yourself and others, you’re well on the way towards building and leveraging a strong credibility statement.
Because as we’ll talk about next time, the most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.1