Internal Vs. External Credibility
Internal vs. External Credibility
Overview
While studying the essence of credibility, I have come across two common themes in which credibility is applicable and valuable: self-credibility and credibility with others. Credibility, while not to be confused with reputation, can be directly related to the reputation that you carry with yourself and who you are with others. Being able to establish the foundations of credibility with yourself allows you to then begin to establish credibility with others. Furthermore, having the ability to rely on your own words and trust yourself plays a critical role in establishing credibility with others (and professional credibility as a whole). For the sake of discussion, I am going to reference credibility in two forms: internal credibility and external credibility.
Internal Credibility
Internal credibility is defined best as establishing trust within yourself that your word is honest and in line with your actions. Simply put, internal credibility is established when you follow through on your word to yourself and align your actions with what you say. Good examples, guided by some of Dr. Jordan B. Peterson's clinical expertise, can be getting up at the time you say you will, refusing to watch tv, game, or scroll social media longer than the time that you deemed as valuable, etc. These actions can play a critical role in establishing internal credibility and aligning promises to yourself with your actions.
However, there are some challenges that come along with establishing internal credibility. One example is that you may be a serial liar to yourself about your position in life (personal, financial, religious, political, etc.). Your first issue with credibility would then be to learn how to be brutally honest with yourself in each and every aspect of your life. Another challenge could be that you do not have a good relationship with yourself. Learning how to discipline yourself and take responsibility for your life is the first step in learning how to love yourself.
If you are not in a place where you can even slightly trust your own word, it can be difficult to even know where to begin. Dr. Andrew Huberman released a podcast discussing how to begin to trust your own word. The essence of what he was saying is to assign a task to yourself for the day and complete it in its entirety then do nothing more than that. The example he provided was doing the dishes. Depending on how extreme your situation is, there is a different starting point for each. However, the point remains that it could be as simple as doing a dish and putting it in the dishwasher. Then the next day, you might put a dish and your silverware in the dishwasher. On the third day you might put a dish, your silverware, then your cooking utensils in the dishwasher and start it. On the fourth day, you might only empty one cup and close the dishwasher and your cabinet. Then repeat the next day until the task is done. You can see where this is going.
While this is an extreme example, Dr. Peterson outlines the best approach to establishing internal credibility in two ways: do not be a tyrant in your own life and outline one task that you can do AND that you will do (then do nothing after you fulfilled that personal contract). Design a day that you want, create a schedule for the day you would deem as valuable and enjoyable, and then stick to the schedule. Internal credibility is built on the foundation that what you say you do is what you actually do. The more times you CONSISTENTLY follow through on your words and promises to yourself, the more credible your word becomes internally. The power behind internal credibility is that you are in complete control of it, for better or worse.
External Credibility
The second type of credibility is external credibility. External credibility is best defined as the credibility that you have with your peers and community. When people can trust that what you say you will follow through on and do, that is when you begin to build external credibility. But do not underestimate the power of the little, consistent actions that build your credibility with others. For example, showing up on time for a dinner you committed to or even just being ready to leave the house on time can play a major role in developing credibility with others. A great professional example is ensuring that your deadlines are met with high-quality work and no excuses. This can tell your boss that your word is worth being trusted.
While the process for building external credibility is similar to the process for establishing internal credibility (i.e. following through on your promises to others, showing up to an event on time, etc.), external credibility offers a few unique challenges. For example, while you are in complete control of internal credibility, you are not in control of how others see, view, or speak about you. Therefore, even if you could conduct yourself in a borderline perfect manner, someone who is jealous of your status, clothing, relationship, etc. could make an accusation that stirs doubt in others' minds and demeans your credibility in the community if not diligently addressed. However, do not be frightened! True external credibility can not be so easily shattered (unlike reputation which will be addressed at a later time) as the knowledge, skills, and work you perform will speak for themselves when done consistently. This does, however, require you to exercise caution in how you speak, behave, and work. While external credibility is a long process to build, it is quickly lost if not handled thoughtfully. Therefore, the price for establishing external credibility is assuming responsibility for every word you utter and every action you perform.
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