I don't like people telling me what to do and how to do it. But since I am not the top of the pyramid, it's something I run into, oh, every now and then. When it happens, I take it better if the person walked in my shoes, brings experiences or perspectives I don't have to the issue.

Be it social media use, addressing a human resource issue, unveiling a new initiative, or talking with me about my performance, experience is key for me. It's not about what was read, indicated or surveyed - it's much deeper than that. It gets into the what, the meaning, the how, the why . . . and the why not.

It comes down to credibility.

People will talk and when they do, I may choose to listen. And I listen for the "I" as in, "what I learned from my experience," because that's where credibility lies for me.

Last week I asked, "Am I credible? Are you credible? How do you (we) know?" I received some wonderful perspectives in the comments.

Master Resume Writer was thinking along the same lines as me when she commented that, " 'proof' of credibility ultimately lies in meaty, meaningful experience that you can 'speak' to in some depth/breadth; and a record of tangible results that you can show (not just tell) others."

Two opinions, even as aligned as they are, do not make a consensus or end a conversation so I was glad to see comments from others.

One in particular stopped me in my tracks.

Alan Hill commented that, "Most of the time this question is speaking of credibility of my work - is my track record credible (y/n)? I believe there is more to credibility than work or character." He went on to say that credibility goes beyond experience and includes credibility of vision and credibility of awareness. (It's a wonderful comment I am only paraphrasing here.)

Alan ended by asking, "what other areas of credibility are there?"

See, that's why I love this gig - I get to hear ideas, and take my mind places, I would never have gotten to on my own. I had not even considered that realms of credibility existed beyond experience - but Alan did.

Awesome. So let me know . . . where does credibility lie for you?

Photo credit Visual Thesaurus

I have the honor of presenting at the Human Resource Professional Association (HRPA) - Peel Chapter Annual General Meeting next month and I am talking about leadership and credibility.

Pretty straight forward right? Yes, that's what I thought too. Now that I am framing it up, it's not nearly as straightforward as I had expected.

The more I think about credibility, the more questions I have (surprise, surprise). And that's a good thing. Mostly good. Well, all good - except that I have to get the questions out of my head so I can "do something" with them. I hesitate to say, "answer them" because there aren't necessarily black and white questions (what did you expect?) so it's more like . . . ponder them.