Quickparts

Anthony Schwaerzler

Workforce Transformation Champion

Building Credibility Through Presence

I have never trusted advice that only exists as a slide. Culture statements and values decks matter, but they do not move anyone unless the people delivering them are also doing the hard, unglamorous work alongside the teams. Over the last two decades in leadership, the clearest lesson I have learned is that credibility is not granted with a title, nor should it be expected because of our opinion of our own work—it is built through what you are willing to  show up for. That kind of involvement cannot be designed remotely or in the abstract.

Being present is the first form of credibility. It is important to understand that being seen is not presence. Employees and executives can tell the difference between an HR leader who talks  about culture and one who is actually in the building/facility/plant, especially when things go  sideways, in the room when the hardest restructuring decisions get made, or on due diligence  calls. I have never met a leader who was not willing to listen when approached with a great  idea, a game-changing innovation, or a budget-savvy solution—but that willingness only  means something if someone is actually there to bring it to them.

The term accountability is tossed around frequently, and it is only ever mentioned when someone wants to hold others—or HR—accountable. Conveniently enough, it is always thought of at arm's length when it comes to us as HR professionals. Let me explain. We are talking about HR holding HR accountable. It looks like voluntarily admitting fault, error, or blind spots. It is easy to take credit for launching programs, but they are only valuable because of the outcome, not the initiative. It is the measurable result, good or bad, that is the payoff.

“It is important to be open about the failures, take the feedback, learn from them, and even teach others about them.”

What does accountability actually look like? When it succeeds, it looks like giving others the credit, with genuine pride in what the team accomplished. When it does not, it looks like humility—sitting with the discomfort of not immediately knowing what went wrong and resisting the urge to explain it away. It is harder to be accountable for an outcome, especially one you worked hard to build buy-in and consensus around. It is important to be open about the failures, take the feedback, learn from them, and even teach others about them. Just remember, sometimes the wins are not as complicated as they seem. The business may not require you to lead a domestic restructuring or consolidate business lines. Maybe it is just measuring whether the business has got the talent it needed. We work among experts in our own field every day—in our own teams and networks—who we trust to give us advice or a second opinion on exactly this kind of call.

Turning Accountability into Action

Reflection, though, is only half the equation. At some point it has to turn into action, or it is still just talk. That is where execution takes over, and where trust actually gets built.

Here is an example:

During a company's transition from systems selling to a preventative maintenance model, a full redesign of sales compensation required working directly with sales leadership and Finance to get the incentives right—work that contributed to a $20M increase in global revenue. No one remembers the memo announcing the change. They remember whether the plan actually worked for them. The sales teams' numbers increased, revenues went up and margins improved. It was also a more sound, scalable system for the future.

None of this is about grand gestures—it is about consistency, showing up for the restructuring, the difficult conversation, and the metric that did not move as hoped, with the same energy brought to the wins. That consistency is what earns trust across an executive team and every function in between. Leadership is not a position you occupy. It is a standard you demonstrate, repeatedly, until the people around you stop needing to be told what it looks like.