Credibility and Integrity - Why people trust some leaders and not others !

A leader who has no one following them is just going for a walk. So the most essential element of leadership is to have some followers. Followers who follow you not because they have too, but because they want too.

The greatest population of leaders can be classified as positional leaders. These are people who have been given leadership roles within their organizations and people need to follow them if they want to keep their job. But the moment people get the opportunity to not follow them, they will be happy to dump the leader and stop following them.

On the other hand we have people who have not been given any positional leadership, but people follow them. They have more say within the organization then the positional leaders. People follow them not because they have too, but because they want too. They command respect within the organization and they can mobilize people for a cause.

The important thing to understand is why some people are designated leaders, while the others lead. Being a leader and leading are two different things. The difference between positional leaders and leaders (some positional leaders are also good leaders) is credibility and integrity.

People who say and do the same thing everyday, gain credibility. When they do this over a period of time they gain integrity. General behaviors of these people are that they help people, support people and keep the interests of their colleagues above their own interests. When people notice such behaviors they get moral authority over people.

This moral authority which a person gets when he/she is credible and demonstrates integrity is responsible for people following them. A leader is developed everyday. It is the behaviors demonstrated everyday define a leader. Leadership is to give and not take. Leadership is to develop people and make them successful.

Not many people have these qualities inherently in their character. Since they do not have them and are inherently thinking about their own selves people are not able to connect with them. They feel threatened as such people are ready to sacrifice people for their own good. At best they become positional leaders and are responsible for the misery of people who are forced to work for them.

Magic happens when a person with integrity, credibility and moral authority moves into a positional leadership position. People are very happy and excited to work for them. They go way beyond their briefs to make the leader successful. In turn the organization benefits as employees are giving beyond what they are asked to do.