B O O K R E V I E W

62

JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP STUDIES, Volume 7, Number 2, 2013©2013 University of PhoenixView this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com • DOI:10.1002/jls.21283

CRISIS OF CREDIBILITY

DARRON VIGLIOTTI AND JESS L. GREGORY

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2011). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 978-0-470-65171-1.

During these turbulent times in which we live, compe-tent and visionary leadership is more essential than ever. Yet in spite of the need for strong leadership, a majority of people worldwide have lost faith that leaders have the capability to guide our organizations. Many leaders and organizations are currently experiencing a crisis of credibility that is signifi cantly undermining their ability to do productive work. Released in 2011, Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It is the most recent off ering from award-winning and best-selling authors James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. Th ese esteemed leadership gurus make the argument that credibility is the foundation of leadership and then proceed to lay out a framework for how leaders can build both personal and organizational credibility.

Kouzes and Posner have contributed over 30 years of research to the fi eld of leadership and have written over a dozen leadership books based on their work, most notably Th e Leadership Challenge, which was named one of the top 10 leadership books in Th e Top 100 Business Books of All Time. Together they have also developed the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), which is one of the most widely used leadership assessment instruments in the world. Both Kouzes and Posner are renowned leadership scholars who regularly teach and lecture to students, corporations, governments, and other orga-nizations. It is hard to imagine that there could be two more trustworthy people on the entire planet when it comes to leadership. In Credibility, Kouzes and Posner have provided a rationale for building credibility as well as an eff ective guide for how to do so.

One of the most important strengths of Credibility is the sheer amount of research that has gone into

62

developing the ideas presented within the book. Th e data collected by Kouzes and Posner function to both support their ideas and provide enlightening anec-dotes that further illustrate the book’s major points. Th e authors begin by making a strong case for the foun-dational nature of credibility, which is based on a star-tling amount of research. Th e level of research grounds the argument that a leader’s credibility provides the foundation on which to build a successful organization. Having conducted over one hundred thousand surveys, more than one thousand case studies, and hundreds of interviews over a 30-year period, Kouzes and Posner have been able to identify the key attributes of admired leaders that cut across myriad organizational types from all over the world. Th e qualities that have consistently shown up throughout their years of research are hon-est, forward looking, inspiring, and competent, which considered together ultimately determine the credibility of a leader. Through their copious research, Kouzes and Posner clearly show that “without a fi rm founda-tion of personal credibility, leaders can have no hope of enlisting others in a common vision” (Kouzes & Posner, 2011, p. 19).

Th e focus of the book shifts from making the case for credibility to why credibility is so important to how credibility is built via six disciplines. References to primary data continue to support the work in the form of stories from case studies that serve to introduce and frame each discipline. One particularly powerful example used to illustrate the importance of credibil-ity is the story of an entire village in Nigeria that was wiped out when a dam burst. Th e people are all saved thanks to the quick thinking of one man who had only a short time to act. He does so guided by a set of shared values, with confi dence that the villagers would act on those values. Other times the research yields powerful quotes from both leaders and followers that describe the positive eff ect that credible leaders can have on both individuals and organizations. Kouzes and Posner draw on a wealth of information throughout the entire text reinforcing their well-thought-out ideas.

Th e bulk of the text is devoted to the six disciplines that help build and sustain personal and organiza-tional credibility. Th ese disciplines are: Discover Your Self, Appreciate Constituents, Affi rm Shared Values, Develop Capacity, Serve a Purpose, and Sustain Hope.

63

B O O K R E V I E W

institutions are headed in the right direction, credible leaders are essential to restore that faith and create an environment where people can work cooperatively to accomplish extraordinary things. Credibility is earned when followers are inspired by a forward-thinking, competent, and trustworthy leader. By building cred-ibility, a leader builds the capacity and belief within an organization that we will always do what we say we will do. Th e book is a valuable resource for current leaders as well as those who are aspire to leadership roles, as it provides a framework for building the per-sonal and organizational credibility that is the founda-tion of good leadership. Kouzes and Posner are clearly passionate about helping leaders be the best they can be for themselves, for their constituents, and for their organizations. With this book they provide both a solid starting point for a novice’s leadership journey as well as a valuable set of guideposts for more experienced lead-ers who feel that they may have strayed from the path. Credibility will undoubtedly continue to yield valu-able insights upon periodic reexamination and certainly deserves a place in anybody’s leadership library.

Darron Vigliotti currently teaches in Stratford, CT, where he has instructed biology classes for the past 12 years. Darron is working toward a 6th Year Degree in educa-tional leadership and aspires to be a school administrator. He has had extensive experience working with leaders, both credible and not so credible, and has served in vari-ous leadership positions within the school community. He is particularly interested in the role of instructional lead-ership in education and its potential impact on student achievement.

Jess L. Gregory, EdD, is assistant professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Southern Connecticut State University. Dr. Gregory teaches classes in statistics, research methods, research design, curriculum, and leadership. With a background in urban education, her focus remains on issues of inequity in schooling and developing leaders to promote social justice.

Each discipline gets its own chapter and then is subse-quently broken down into smaller aspects and further examined. Th is format is very helpful as it enables the book to be easily used a reference to aid in the develop-ment of a particular discipline. Every chapter is rich with detail and specifi c examples of the types of behav-iors associated with each discipline. At times the level of specifi city in each chapter can be a bit overwhelming as Kouzes and Posner are almost exhaust ingly compre-hensive in their presentation. Practically every page contains some nugget of wisdom, and by the end of a chapter, it seems as if there are innumerable nuances that must be mastered in order to adequately cover any one discipline. Th is eff ect is counteracted to some extent by a list of key ideas presented at the end of each chapter. Th ese key ideas provide useful starting points for considering the fi ner points of each discipline. Th ere is also a companion workbook with various refl ective activities designed to help develop the necessary skills required by each discipline.

Th e book concludes with a discussion of uncertainty and the potential pitfalls of leadership amid the strug-gles and tensions of organizational life. Questions such as when to impose constraints or increase freedom, when to lead and when to follow, and how to deal with competing defi nitions of success are all thoughtfully considered. Th ere is also a warning about how excel-lence in any one discipline can lead to various coun-terproductive excesses as well as the suggested means of dealing with those excesses. Ultimately, the case is made that credibility needs to be continuously built and renewed through strenuous eff ort, but this eff ort is necessary if leaders are to earn the allegiance of follow-ers and lead them to places they have never been before (Kouzes & Posner, 2011).

With Credibility, Kouzes and Posner have convinc-ingly summed up their vast work on leadership and eloquently made the case that building and sustaining credibility should be a primary goal of all leaders. As is stated early on, leadership is a relationship that must be cultivated carefully over time. In a world where uncer-tainty is increasingly becoming the norm, and more and more people are losing faith that organizations and

JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP STUDIES • Volume 7 • Number 2 • DOI:10.1002/jls 63