Capability and Credibility go hand in hand, and any effective Leader must have both. Let’s start with capability because, well, that’s where you have to start.
Definition
Capability: The capacity and ability to accomplish something; potential
What does this have to do with Cowardly Leadership?
It’s the beginning.
Even cowardly leaders usually have the capability of leading. If elected, they usually campaign on their capability. How they can turn things around; how things will be different. Potential isn’t often used in an election campaign but candidates infer they have the ability to increase or fulfill the potential of a community- their city or county.
Capacity and Ability
“I have the capacity, the ability, the potential- to change things for the better.” That’s what we hear from not just elected officials, but those people who work for them.
Sometimes, these people have in fact accomplished something similar in a different environment. The most overwhelmingly obvious example is President Donald Trump. He developed a commercial and retail empire with a focus on hotels and casinos and became a multi-millionaire. President Trump has the capability to lead the government. He has managed large, multi-faceted and complex organizations. Therefore, by definition, he has the capacity and potential.
We see this all the time in Fortune 500 companies. Mr. X was CEO of this company, so he should be successful running our company as well, even though our company is nothing like the company he came from. One of a hundred examples is John Sculley, CEO of Apple (and, probably more than any accomplishment during his ten years, he is most well known for firing Steve Jobs). Sculley was brought to Apple from Pepsi. From soft drinks to computers. It happens often. He was successful there, he can be successful here.
He is capable of being successful. So Apple thought.
Athletes have capability
Athletes may be the most easily understood example.
I play golf; or rather, I play at golf. I am average, maybe a little better. But I have had the occasional pretty impressive round of golf. Therefore, I have the capability of being a low handicap golfer. I can stand on a driving range and hit shot after shot the way I want to hit it. I can stand on a putting green and putt pretty well. The capability and potential are there.
A high school swimmer who has great practice times has the capability of setting personal and even swim meet marks when she steps up on the blocks for the state meet.
The Basics
Before a leader can be credible, he or she must be capable. A leader must have the basic ability and capacity to lead before anything else. A cowardly leader can fake it for a little while. A cowardly leader can run, and be elected, on his capability. His practice times. His acumen on the driving range.
Capability is the knowledge, the basics, the common sense (especially the common sense). Without those fundamentals, nothing else will follow.
Capability is the past up to the present tense. What does our fearless leader know? How will he or she take what she knows and implement it? What skills and knowledge does he/she have? What talent has he shown on the putting green and driving range?
Past tense.
If a leader doesn’t show he or she has the capability, then I- and I bet you also- will never give him the benefit of getting to the next step, which is Credibility. Come back Friday for Credibility and how it dovetails and interweaves, yet is fundamentally different from, Capability.
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