Page 21 - Today’s Business Communication; A How-to Guide for the Modern Professional

10 TODAY’S BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

source of the communication failure, to the so-called communication
breakdown. Great communicators know that with some hard work, they
can overcome many communication barriers. Great communicators suffer
communication failures, just like the believers in the great myth of com-
munication breakdown. However, great communicators take responsibil-
ity for their communication failures, learn the appropriate lessons, and
improve, all the while working hard to never repeat the same mistakes.

Your Credibility Drives Your Effectiveness

Great business communicators understand the importance of their cred-
ibility to their ability to communicate effectively. Your credibility com-
prises people’s perceptions of your trustworthiness and expertise. In other
words, people find you credible to the extent that they can take you at
your word and believe that you have the knowledge or experience to write
or speak on a given topic. In fact, credibility is one of the best predictors
of people’s attitudes toward you. Moreover, credible sources are more
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persuasive than less credible sources.
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It’s no surprise that the people others trust and believe to be experts
are also more influential. Great business communicators work hard to
maintain their credibility by delivering on their promises and offering
educated opinions. They also know that losing one’s credibility can have
devastating professional consequences. Although the Petraeus story
teaches us about this principle as well, we will share another example.
In October 2011, the northeastern United States was struck by a mas-
sive snowstorm that left more than 3 million people without electricity for
up to 11 days. In Connecticut, more than 80,000 customers of Connecti-
cut Light and Power (CL&P) were without power at some point during
the 11 days of outages. During the immediate storm response, the Gov-
ernor stood next to CL&P President and Chief Operating Officer, Jeff
Butler, as he made promises about power restoration. A report by an out-
side agency later reported that as the days dragged on, customers became
increasingly frustrated by the situation and the failure of CL&P to fulfill
the promises made by Mr. Butler. The report concluded that CL&P—
with Mr. Butler as the public face—developed restoration goals that they
knew they would not likely reach. The company then announced these