Every move ahead in your business or in your career means more responsibility and more people who answer to you directly or who follow your example.

As you progress, others look up to you. What do they think of you? How are you perceived by those above you?

Do you have personal authority, or only position authority? Do you inspire great performances, or do you demand them?

What are the issues that really matter in your role as a leader? Do you need to be well liked? Respected? Feared?

James M. Kouzes, a world-renowned expert on the nature of leadership, has spent many years looking into the answers to questions like these. He is fascinated by the distinctions that give some people the ability to get better performances out of everyone around them. Jim lets us know that everyone is a leader in some size, shape, or form. Whether you are a manager at your office, a CEO, a manager of your youth baseball team, a leader in scouting or at your local church, entrepreneur or a project manager at your job, the tools and techniques that Achieving Credibility gives you will provide inspiration and success at any level.

In an effort to discover the key to effective leadership, he and his research partners have culled data from more than 15,000 surveys, 400 case studies, and 40 in-depth interviews. Based on this research, he has identified one trait as the cornerstone of all leadership: Above all else, people expect their leaders to possess credibility.

In Achieving Credibility: The Key to Effective Leadership, you’ll find a truly human approach to leadership, one that identifies and focuses on the traits we all admire in other people. Kouzes helps you put your finger on the intangibles that make some people simply stand head and shoulders above their peers. And most of all, you’ll come to understand why building credibility is such a fundamental aspect of the leadership process.

This is a personally inspiring guide, a must-listen for all managers, leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals who can’t do their job alone. Listen thoughtfully and discover:

• The six disciplines of credibility


• How to readily establish trust with others


• Specific ways to promote education and deeper understanding among employees


• How to regain credibility if you’ve lost it


• The technique of conflict resolution on the basis of principles rather than positions


• How to cultivate the qualities in yourself that all people look for in a leader


• How you can reach your maximum potential by motivating others to reach theirs


• And a lot more

If your desire is to create the perfect work environment—where people are motivated, trust one another, and share similar goals and visions—and to establish an atmosphere of hope regardless of what your organization is going through, then Achieving Credibility is the blueprint for you.

In our era of companies that we hear negative things about almost weekly, where leadership is mistrusted and the foundational principles of organizations are abandoned, where the bottom line is the only thing observed, Jim Kouzes gives us a breath of fresh air and hope that you can build an organization for which good morals and values are the foundation and which can be extremely successful. His powerful examples are throughout this program. You will be inspired.

While leadership is Kouzes’ main thrust, his themes of trust, honesty, sensitivity to diversity, sustaining hope, and engendering community are skills for anyone who works with people. With employees, with bosses, with customers, with vendors, with business partners, with family and friends ... we need to be credible with all the people in our lives to accomplish almost any objective we set for ourselves.