How to Lose Your Credibility at Work and How to Regain It

You lose your credibility at work when your words and actions don’t align. If your credibility is in question, you lose the ability to influence others, communicate clearly, and even worse, you can’t create trust. If people don’t trust you, they won’t work with you or for you. It makes it harder to get things done. However, establishing and maintaining your credibility will gain you the trustworthiness you need to succeed at work. Once lost, it can be recovered but it takes time and courage. Learn how to regain your credibility at work by following these steps.

Whether you are just entering the workforce, a new manager, or a tenured employee, your personal credibility determines your level of success. It forms other people’s opinions of you and greatly influences the way they interact with you. Furthermore, it helps your boss and coworkers decide if they can trust and respect you. With credibility, you can build healthy and productive relationships, which are crucial in business. So you don’t want to lose your credibility at work.

15 Ways to Lose Your Credibility at Work in Under 60 Seconds

• Don’t follow through on your commitments
• Showing up sloppy, chaotic, or disorganized
• Talking before thinking
• Making decisions in a silo
• Lying – a little, or a lot
• Constantly tooting your own horn
• Badmouthing others
• Having your own set of facts (half-truths)
• Talking down to others
• Having body language or vocal tones that don’t match your words
• Being a know-it-all
• Playing the blame game
• Always making excuses
• Constantly arriving late
• Showing favoritism

Your credibility at work determines how much people think they can rely on you. It is the foundation of all relationships, helps supports your goals, and will determine your career success. When you lose your credibility at work, you must act quickly to regain it.

You work hard to establish credibility at work. However, easily avoidable mistakes cause you to lose your credibility quickly, and as a result, lose trust and respect. It will damage your reputation and creates a negative perception of you in the workplace.

How to Regain Your Credibility at Work After You’ve Lost It

It’s best not to lose your credibility after you’ve established it. However, if you’ve made a mistake that impacted your credibility, take these steps to regain it.

1) Admit you’ve made a mistake – quickly

You will make mistakes because it is part of being human and part of the learning process, but it can still cause you to lose credibility at work. While discussing your mistake is the last thing you want to do, it is the most important to regain credibility. Additionally, the way you take responsibility will determine the way people remember the situation. As soon as you realize you made a mistake, acknowledge it publicly. Avoid offering excuses, and certainly don’t get defensive. The more you come across as accepting and concerned, the more quickly you can regain your credibility at work.

2) It’s never too late to apologize

If you’ve caused someone pain, headaches, or additional work you will lose your credibility at work. When your actions cause someone grief, they want an apology. However, they don’t want a fake or superficial one. The more specific your apology is, the more they know you understand the problem you’ve caused. So don’t apologize by saying “if” or “but” if you want to regain your credibility at work.

3) Identify why and communicate how you will improve

Now that you’ve admitted you did something wrong and apologized, identify why it happened. Next, communicate what you are doing to avoid it moving forward. If necessary, work with the people impacted by your mistake to solicit ideas on improving. When you communicate your solution, you regain credibility at work because it demonstrates you are committed to improving.

4) Lose the victim mentality

Mistakes will happen that cause you to lose your credibility at work. They are embarrassing and can damage your ego. For that reason, it is easy to get stuck in a woe is me victim mentality. Once you’ve admitted your mistake, apologized, and found a solution to prevent it, move on and focus on the future. Attempting to bring others into your pity party will cause you to lose more credibility at work and makes it harder to regain it.

5) Ask for feedback to regain your credibility at work

After you lose credibility at work and have followed the first four steps, ask for feedback. Go to the people your mistake impacted to find out if they see improvement. Asking for feedback is a quick way to regain your credibility at work because it demonstrates a genuine commitment to improve and avoid the mistake again. It also shows you are willing to learn and recognize the issue.

6) Give your best and maximum effort daily

You created a messy situation, and that caused you to lose credibility at work. Regain your credibility by showing up and giving your best maximum effort consistently. Take the initiative and go above and beyond to deliver your tasks accurately and on time. Show up early and stay late. Improve your appearance by dressing for success. Above all, stop talking and start doing because credibility comes from results, not marketing. Make sure your efforts are showing up in a big way, and you will quickly regain credibility at work.

It takes time to gain credibility but no time at all to lose it. Therefore, make a conscious effort to avoid the list of things that cause you to lose credibility at work. However, if you make a mistake, follow the steps to regain your credibility because when you do, you improve your potential, which is good for your relationships and career.