{"id":106052,"date":"2023-06-16T13:41:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T17:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=106052"},"modified":"2023-06-26T10:11:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T14:11:12","slug":"importance-of-credibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/importance-of-credibility\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Credibility: Tips From Ferriss, Gates, & Angelou"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Can credibility be borrowed? Does “fake it ’til you make it” actually work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Third Door<\/em> by Alex Banayan is a compilation of what Banayan learned about success\u2014not only from the people he interviewed\u2014but also from the process of pursuing them. From his interviews with Tim Ferriss, Bill Gates, and Maya Angelou, he learned about the importance of credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn how these three life stories illustrate how credibility is a key to success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Importance of Credibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Banayan purposefully chose interviewees who had, like him, started their careers as unknowns, and therefore faced a lack of credibility as they tried to get established. Several of the people he spoke with talked about the importance of credibility and shared personal advice on how to convince others to invest in you before you have a proven track record. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Credibility is defined as trustworthiness<\/a> or the ability to inspire belief<\/a>. In the business world, credibility is an essential part of establishing your company or career<\/a>\u2014without it, you\u2019ll struggle to attract customers<\/a>, employees, investors, and partners, or to get favorable terms for loans or contracts.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Ferriss: Borrow Credibility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tim Ferriss, entrepreneur, life coach, and author of The 4-Hour Workweek<\/em><\/a>, a best-selling book about how to achieve<\/a> success with minimal effort, told Banayan that an effective way to gain credibility is to borrow it from a more credible source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do so, volunteer for credible nonprofits or write for recognized publications. By doing so, you can associate your name with their expertise<\/strong>\u2014you\u2019ll get a lot further contacting a potential business partner by saying you\u2019re, for example, a project coordinator with a known organization, or that you\u2019ve been recently featured on a credible website, than you will by saying you\u2019re a recent college grad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Borrowing credibility works because people are hardwired to trust the opinions of others. As Robert Cialdini explains in Influence<\/em><\/a>, this is part of the social proof principle<\/a><\/em>\u2014the idea that we decide what to do or think by following what others do or think<\/a>. This is a mental shortcut<\/a> that helped us survive: By trusting the opinions of others, we could quickly determine what was dangerous or where opportunities were. The social proof<\/a> principle has stayed with us as we\u2019ve evolved, and it\u2019s why we trust an unknown entity (in this case, someone starting their career) if they\u2019re \u201ctrusted\u201d by a source we already trust.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill Gates: Know Your Stuff<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, was trying to close a deal with IBM in 1980, he faced a credibility problem. IBM was the world\u2019s largest tech company at the time, and landing a deal with them would allow Microsoft to dominate the tech field for decades. But, he was the youthful-looking head of an unproven startup. He had to convince IBM executives that he was a serious player in the field and could be trusted with their business.<\/strong> To do this, he went into their meeting armed with knowledge not only about his product but also about IBM itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know Your Product<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Gates convinced IBM executives of his expertise in his product by talking fast and overwhelming them with detailed, technical answers<\/strong> to questions they raised. By discussing in-depth aspects of programming and software, he made it known that his knowledge outpaced his youthful looks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know Your Client<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Gates also leveraged his knowledge of IBM\u2019s desires and fears<\/strong> to secure a more favorable contract than would have been expected of his new and inexperienced company. Desires: <\/strong>He knew IBM valued speed so he emphasized how fast his company could deliver\u2014even deliberately overpromising what Microsoft was capable of at the time. He did so knowing that if he said what they wanted to hear, they\u2019d be more inclined to work with his company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fears: <\/strong>Gates knew IBM feared potential lawsuits, and he used that knowledge to secure what he<\/em> wanted, which was to keep the source code of his product a secret. He implied that if he disclosed the code to them and it was leaked, they\u2019d be liable for billions of dollars. Fearful of this possibility, they agreed to his terms, even though normally, IBM, as the company with more leverage, would have been expected to extract the source code from Gates as part of the deal. Gates was thus able to establish his company as the one with more power in the negotiation, despite the fact that it was far smaller and less experienced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maya Angelou: Fake It\u2014Then Be Sure to Make It<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Poet, writer, activist, professor, and Grammy Award-winner Maya Angelou told Banayan her secret to appearing credible when starting out: Trust your capabilities, oversell your existing skills, and then work hard to improve those skills<\/strong>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Angelou applied for a job at a newspaper early in her career, she lied about her credentials and experience. She told Banayan that she promised the interviewers what she felt she needed to so that she could get the job, and she trusted that she\u2019d be able to later learn the skills she\u2019d promised. Then, she made sure she did\u2014she spent lots of time at the library studying and learning until she had developed the expertise she\u2019d claimed to have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Angelou\u2019s advice to oversell your abilities echoes Bill Gates\u2019s. As discussed above, this strategy can lead to problems<\/a> if you\u2019re unable to deliver on your promises, and most experts advise that you only promise what you\u2019re currently capable of<\/a>. However, only promising what you\u2019re currently capable of can put people who are just starting out at a disadvantage, as their current capabilities often aren\u2019t strong enough to set them apart from competitors. By emphasizing that you should immediately work to gain the skills you promised, Angelou acknowledges this reality and offers young people a way to position themselves competitively while mitigating the risks of overpromising.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercise: Establish Your Credibility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When starting out, one of the hardest challenges you may face is convincing a skeptical client or business partner that you can deliver what you promise. Consider some of the tips from Tim Ferriss, Bill Gates, and Maya Angelou to plan how you might improve your credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Is there an organization you can associate yourself with that you can borrow credibility from? Is there somewhere you can volunteer or offer your services to meet some need of theirs?<\/li>
  2. How might you use information to impress the company or client you\u2019re pursuing? What data might you gather about your industry or product that might assure them of your expertise?<\/li>
  3. What skills would it benefit you to have to achieve your goal? In what way could you learn them? For example, is there a class you could take or a book you could read? How might you structure your day to make time to learn or practice something?<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Can credibility be borrowed? Does “fake it ’til you make it” actually work? The Third Door by Alex Banayan is a compilation of what Banayan learned about success\u2014not only from the people he interviewed\u2014but also from the process of pursuing them. From his interviews with Tim Ferriss, Bill Gates, and Maya Angelou, he learned about the importance of credibility. Keep reading to learn how these three life stories illustrate how credibility is a key to success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":84196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,29,43],"tags":[1070],"class_list":["post-106052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-career","category-self-improvement","tag-the-third-door","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Importance of Credibility: Tips From Ferriss, Gates, & Angelou - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alex Banayan interviewed Tim Ferriss, Bill Gates, and Maya Angelou. 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