How Personal 'Credibility Busters' Hurt Your Career

In their rush to demonstrate professional credentials and value as employees, people often overlook or underestimate how they come across as a person. Which is ironic, since that's really what an organization is paying -- a person who has acquired a certain set of skills and knowledge.

This may be especially true in an industry such as IT, where the understandable emphasis is on working with networking and computer equipment. It may be a cliche, but almost all of us know an IT pro who appears light on people skills. And if they have problems relating to other people, it's entirely likely the importance of their own personal credibility eludes some of them because they think it's all about their mad skillz.

Consultant and trainer Sandy Allgeier has just published a book titled, The Personal Credibility Factor: How to Get It, Keep It, and Get It Back (If You've Lost It) that tells you...well, the title pretty much explains what it's about.

I got an email from her publicist listing 17 of the most common "credibility busters" that Allgeier discusses in her book. I thought it would be interesting to post some of them here:

Failing to do what you say you will do. Allgeier calls this the No. 1 way to ruin your personal credibility. And while she notes that we all do this from time to time, if you make a habit of it, you will be perceived as someone others can't count on. It's not just big things, either, like web redesigns or server upgrades. It's not calling people when you say you will, not fixing a co-worker's laptop when you promised, etc. The little things can add up to a big (and unflattering) picture.

Breaking appointments (or frequently rescheduling them). This sends several messages: 1) I'm disorganized, 2) I'm unreliable and 3) You're unimportant.

Bringing too much "personal life" into your workday. Chatting on the phone with friends, spouses and children, excessive personal emails and IMs, talking incessantly to co-workers about your life and problems...equals a person not focusing on the job.

Putting others down to pull yourself up. This is a common one, and almost all of us fall into this trap now and again, especially if a co-worker got a raise or promotion that we thought we had earned. Remember, the only people who like complainers are other complainers, and even they eventually get sick of it (your complaining, not their own). It's also a dangerous practice; trashing someone in an office almost always gets back to them.

Putting yourself down rather than learning from mistakes. Organizations are leery of people who engage in self-deprecation. Why? Because they don't have confidence that you'll be able to step up when needed. A "can-do" attitude is inspiring and motivating -- more so than ever in tough economic times.

Making too many excuses -- even if they're legit. People quickly lose patience with excuse-makers, and the excuse-makers quickly lose credibility.

Being a rigid rule enforcer rather than a flexible problem solver. (Think Dwight on The Office.) Rules and policies are fine, even essential -- until they get in the way of solving a serious problem. Then they become obstacles.

Losing the balance between accomplishing tasks and maintaining constructive relationships. This is a big problem in the IT world from what I've witnessed over many years. "I promised the CEO the site would be ready by Monday, and you're going to have to make that happen, no matter what." It would have been nice if you first checked to see if that were possible. This kind of "get it done now under any circumstances" attitude makes you seem unreasonable and drives good people out the door.

Those are some of Allgeier's personal credibility busters. Now here are some of mine:

Mullets

T-shirts with obscenities on them

Speaking "Klingon"

WoW fanaticism

Ditto Second Life

Constantly doing "cartoon voices"

Excessive bathroom runs

Late for all staff meetings

Texting during meetings