Your credibility is one of your biggest assets. Make sure you don’t lose it!

You lose customers when you or your company loses credibility. This could be deadly when the industry turns on you and brands you untrustworthy. Nobody will take a chance on you and your company’s death will be mercifully quick. 

It’s easy to overlook the value of credibility and honesty in today’s political environment when politicians are blatantly lying. In fact, dishonesty today is rampant with more cases every day hitting the news. Dishonesty is the new norm and it shouldn’t be. We tend to become jaded when we are exposed to something continuously misleading and I believe this is something we need to really focus on to avoid catastrophic losses in business and at work.

Currently, these are America’s least trusted professions according to Forbes:

1. Members of Congress
2. Car Salespeople
3. Journalists
4. Business Executives
5. Lawyers

I was not at all surprised to see politicians, car salespeople and lawyers on the list. But I was surprised to see Journalists and Business Executives this high on the list. The slant of journalists endorsing politicians these days seems to have impacted their credibility – or it could be politicians complaining of journalism which can be considered another form of lying. 

Business Executives? This is a broad category and appears despite moves by politicians and the federal government to force companies and executives to be ethical and have a system of internal controls. I believe this may be driven from a lot of unethical CEO’s, and I am thinking off the top of my head of Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos), Sam Bankman-Fried (FTX), Kenneth Lay & Jeffrey Skilling (Enron), Bernie Ebbers (Worldcom), Dennis Kozlowski (Tyco) and Harvey Weinstein (The Weinstein Company) and how can we forget our 45^th president Donald Trump (The Trump Organization).

For public companies, Sarbanes-Oxley was passed in 2002 in response to corporate scandals such as Tyco, Worldcom and Enron. These rules require companies to document key controls, test them annually and have their auditors attest to their accuracy. The rules hold the CEO and CFO personally responsible for control breakdowns and fraud.

Dodd- Frank was passed in 2010 to regulate banks, lenders and Wall Street after the great recession in 2008. This is widely credited with strengthening consumer protections, reforms and reducing speculative investments of financial institutions and predatory lending. 

Despite the efforts of Congress to improve operating practices for public companies and financial institutions, business executives are still high on the list. Here is how you avoid losing your credibility:

1. Never Compromise on the Truth – this is why salespeople are on this list. Some will say anything just to make a sale.  Always be a straight- shooter and be honest about what you or your company does well and can do.
2. Hold People Accountable at Work – deadline and dates. You need your people to execute and meet deadlines.  How can you rely on them when they do not?  They lose credibility with you when they miss a deadline and you take the hit with your boss and others relying on you for results.
3. Become a Moral Compass at Your Company – Somebody needs to set the stage for ethics and accountability and why shouldn’t it be you? I have seen companies where honesty is a fleeting thing and this just bogs down efficiency and execution.  I will tell you from experience that sometimes taking the high moral road is a difficult one.
4. Never Shoot the Messenger – If you want honesty then don’t penalize somebody when they are. This is obvious but it has happened to me personally multiple times.  It just caused me to realize that I couldn’t trust my boss or executives  with the truth – apparently something they didn’t want to hear. 

Customers want to believe their vendors are honest and always have their best interest in mind. If you prove otherwise they will go find somebody that they can trust.

In an organization, people need and want to believe their leaders. If they cannot trust or believe you, why should they follow you?

Don’t let the news and lack of honesty prevalent today in politics and business jade you into thinking it is okay to do so. I believe, that today because of this lack of integrity, it is more important than ever to prove your honesty and value to customers, peers and subordinates. Failure to do so can cost you everything.