Why People Believe in Their Leaders — or Not

Credibility hinges on perceptions of competence and trustworthiness.

Daniel Han Ming Chng, Tae-Yeol Kim, Brad Gilbreath, and Lynne Andersson

August 17, 2018

Leadership is the relationship between people who aspire to lead and those who choose whether or not to follow.¹ And it hinges on the leader’s credibility, which is difficult to build and easy to lose. In recent years, numerous corporate executives — including the CEOs of BP, Wells Fargo, and Volkswagen — have learned that tough lesson through high-profile scandals that swiftly damaged their reputations.²

But what’s at the heart of credibility? Two critical elements: perceived competence (people’s faith in the leader’s knowledge, skills, ...