Step Up and Be Credible

"Credibility is earned by those who believe that you are trustworthy, knowledgable and competent to do the job."

It is said that with great power comes great responsibility; however, for great responsibility there must be credibility. Credibility is earned by those who believe that you are trustworthy, knowledgable and competent to do the job. At some point in your career as a project manager you will desire to have more responsibility over budget, resources and make important decisions. For you to have control over these aspects in a project, your recommendations and decisions must be taken seriously by all stakeholders. Therefore, you must be influential and convincing in order to gain credibility at work. Management needs to notice you and realize that you have what it takes to get the job done. 

When I started my career as a project analyst, it was difficult to convince management to provide me with an opportunity to manage a project from beginning to end. Mostly because I did not have the required experience. I was good at what I did at the time and management wanted me to continue doing my daily duties, which were related to technical support. However, my passion for project management had already awakened and I was eager to get my hands on a project. I was certainly not credible at work when it came to show that I could take on a project, hence management was reluctant to give me a chance to prove that I could take on a project. 

I knew that I needed to gain credibility and become more convincing with my actions. I decided to ask for an opportunity to one of the Directors who needed some project coordination done and expressed my desire to help coordinate one of his projects. It happened to be an information security project which I did not know much about at the time but it would not stop me from wanting to learn and get involved.

To be honest, since then, my interest for project management and security grew exponentially. The way I would approach my new duties would be to continue working on daily technical operations and start project coordinating part-time.

I knew it would be difficult as the amount of work had now increased for me but I was willing to put the extra effort to get myself some experience coordinating projects. It was a new experience for me and an opportunity to demonstrate that I was willing to go the extra mile and have a shot at that project.

Long story short, I completed that project successfully (or at least the tasks that I was coordinating) and that one opportunity granted will open up the path for me to continue managing projects until this day.

If you are just starting your career in the project management profession, you need to start building your confidence up. Know that it would not be something that will be accomplished overnight but will most likely take some time. Be ready for when the opportunity knocks on your door.

Be ready to step up and show that you can get the job done! Take the leap to ask for an opportunity. If you do not get it now, you will express your interest and an opportunity might come later on in the future. 

Are you credible at work?