I thought I was a great communicator. My team thought otherwise.

Three months ago, I found myself staring at feedback that would change how I view leadership forever. As someone who trains executives and HR professionals, I believed I had mastered the art of communication. But when I finally asked my team for honest feedback about my leadership style, their responses hit like a punch to the gut.

“Nina, we never know what’s really happening.”

“You seem to have all the answers, but we feel left out.”

“Sometimes it feels like you’re hiding something from us.”

I wasn’t hiding anything. In my mind, I was protecting them from uncertainty, shielding them from the messy realities of business decisions, and presenting a confident front during challenging times.

I was wrong.

The Wake-Up Call That Changed Everything

That feedback session became the catalyst for one of the most revealing studies I’ve ever conducted. If I—someone who teaches communication and leadership—was failing to connect authentically with my team, what was happening in organizations everywhere?

I decided to find out.

Over two weeks, I surveyed more than 3,000 professionals across various industries with a simple but powerful question: “What damages leadership credibility most?”

The results didn’t just surprise me—they revealed a fundamental misunderstanding about what leadership credibility really means.

The Wake-Up Call That Changed

When the votes were tallied, the winner was clear, but the deeper patterns were even more revealing:

Winner: Poor Communication – 40% (1,237 votes)

Poor communication didn’t just win—it dominated. But as I dug deeper into what this really meant, I discovered it wasn’t about being a bad speaker or writer. It was about something much more fundamental.

Second Place: Taking Credit for Others’ Work – 32% (991 votes)

This wasn’t just about recognition—it was about trust. When leaders claim victories without acknowledging their team, they don’t just steal credit. They steal motivation and destroy the psychological safety that high-performing teams need.

Third Place: Never Admitting Mistakes – 28% (859 votes)

The gap between second and third place was only 132 votes—just 4%. This close race revealed something crucial about what really destroys leadership credibility.

The 60% Pattern Most Leaders Miss

Here’s what shocked me most about these results: When you combine “Taking Credit for Others’ Work” (32%) and “Never Admitting Mistakes” (28%), you get 60% of responses pointing to ego-driven behaviors.

This means that ego-driven leadership failures are nearly as damaging as poor communication itself.

But there’s an even deeper pattern hidden in these numbers.

The Real Truth: It’s All About Trust and Transparency

As I analyzed the data, I realized that all three top responses shared a common thread—they’re all fundamentally about trust and transparency:

• Poor Communication = “I don’t know what’s happening”
• Taking Credit = “I can’t trust you with my contributions”
• Never Admitting Mistakes = “You’re not being honest with me”

The insight hit me like lightning: Leadership credibility isn’t destroyed by incompetence—it’s destroyed by dishonesty, secrecy, and ego.

The Silent Killer: Communication Gaps

Let’s dive deeper into that 40% who chose poor communication, because what they’re really describing isn’t what most leaders think.

The “communication gaps” that destroy credibility aren’t about:

• Being a poor public speaker
• Writing unclear emails
• Having a difficult personality

They’re about:

• Avoiding difficult conversations when teams need clarity most
• Hiding important information under the guise of “protecting” the team
• Going MIA during crises when leadership presence is most critical

Your team notices everything you don’t say. They feel every conversation you avoid. They sense every piece of information you’re withholding.

The Credit Thieves: Why Recognition Matters More Than You Think

The 32% who identified “taking credit” as a credibility killer highlighted something profound about human motivation. Recognition isn’t just a nice-to-have perk—it’s fundamental to trust and engagement.

When leaders claim victories without acknowledging their team:

• They signal that individual contributions don’t matter
• They create a culture where people stop going above and beyond
• They destroy the intrinsic motivation that drives peak performance

As one survey respondent put it: “When my boss took credit for my idea in front of the board, I didn’t just lose respect for him—I lost motivation to contribute anything meaningful again.”

The Mistake-Deniers: Why Vulnerability Builds Authority

The 28% who chose “never admitting mistakes” identified one of the most counterintuitive truths about leadership: vulnerability actually increases authority, not decreases it.

When leaders can’t say “I was wrong,” they don’t just damage their reputation—they poison the entire team culture:

• Teams stop taking risks
• Innovation dies in fear
• Problems get hidden instead of solved
• Trust erodes with every denial

The most trusted leaders I know have two words in common: “I’m sorry.”

The Path Forward: Rebuilding Credibility

Based on these findings and my experience helping leaders rebuild trust, here’s your roadmap to credibility recovery:

1. Start with Radical Transparency

The credibility comeback begins with one honest conversation. Acknowledge what you haven’t been sharing and why. Your team can handle uncertainty better than they can handle being kept in the dark.

Action Step: Schedule a team meeting this week and answer this question honestly: “What am I not telling my team that I should be?”

2. Master the Art of Recognition

Make recognition specific, timely, and public. Don’t just thank people—tell them exactly what they did and why it mattered.

Action Step: This week, identify one team member’s contribution that you haven’t properly acknowledged and recognize them publicly.

3. Normalize Mistake Ownership

Model the behavior you want to see. When you make a mistake, own it quickly and completely. Then focus on solutions.

Action Step: Think of a recent mistake you haven’t fully owned. Address it with your team and show them how to handle errors professionally.

4. Close the Communication Loop

Stop assuming your team knows what you’re thinking. Over-communicate during uncertainty, share context behind decisions, and explain the “why” behind changes.

Action Step: For every major decision this month, share not just what you’re doing, but why you’re doing it and what information led to that choice.

The Measurement That Matters

How do you know if you’re making progress? Ask yourself these diagnostic questions:

• Trust Test: Would your team feel comfortable bringing you bad news?
• Transparency Test: Do your people understand not just what you’re asking them to do, but why?
• Recognition Test: Can your team members point to specific instances where you’ve acknowledged their contributions?
• Vulnerability Test: Have you admitted a mistake to your team in the past month?

The Question That Will Transform Your Leadership

Before you implement any of these strategies, I want you to reflect on the question that changed everything for me:

“What conversation am I avoiding with my team right now?”

Your answer to that question is probably the exact conversation that will rebuild your credibility faster than any strategy or tactic.

What’s Your Biggest Leadership Challenge?

I’m curious about your experience. When you think about your biggest leadership challenge right now, what’s really at the core?

• Do you struggle with difficult conversations?
• Do you hold back information to “protect” your team?
• Is your team not as engaged as you’d like?
• Are you unsure if your message is getting through?

Share your thoughts in the comments below. Your honest reflection not only helps you grow—it helps other leaders realize they’re not alone in these challenges.

The Bottom Line

Leadership credibility isn’t built on perfection—it’s built on authenticity. Your team can handle your mistakes, your uncertainty, and your humanity. What they can’t handle is dishonesty, being left in the dark, or feeling invisible.

The 4,000+ professionals who participated in this survey delivered a clear message: Trust and transparency aren’t just nice leadership qualities—they’re non-negotiable requirements for credibility.

The question isn’t whether you’ll face credibility challenges as a leader. The question is whether you’ll face them with honesty and courage, or whether you’ll let ego and fear make the choices for you.

Your credibility—and your team’s success—depends on your answer.