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Consciously or unconsciously, we are all judged by the 4 C’s of networking. The 4 C’s are credibility, competence, transparency and connection – these are the elements vital to create a powerful personal referral network.
When you meet a stranger, you almost certainly ask yourself one or all of the following questions: Can I trust this person? What does he or she want? What are their intentions? Do they need something from me? All of these questions indicate someone’s credibility. (*4*) implies that they are reliable and worthy of our trust. Virtually no one recommends someone who is involved with someone they do not trust.
From the overall interpersonal and social scenario, trust or trustworthiness is the first box that needs to be ticked in our minds before we let someone into our referral sphere. In contacts with others, we primarily assess the credibility of a given person.
Only after establishing credibility will we have the option to take into account evidence confirming the person’s level of competence. After all, what good is having someone around you who hasn’t earned our trust? In the past, and even today, when dealing with others, competence is a skill and credibility is a status. The more we exhibit competence and credibility, the more we build trust with someone.
Trustworthiness and competence go hand in hand in business, just as they do in non-business social interactions, but there is an necessary difference. When it comes to business and referrals, you may have competence without establishing credibility, but you can’t have credibility without being competent. In a business context, competences replace credibility – it’s true, competences come first in the referral relationship! Competence is having the required skills, knowledge and qualifications to apply your craft. In addition to credibility, no one recommends individuals who they imagine are not competent. Whenever.
It is necessary to keep in mind that competence can lead to credibility, but credibility cannot lead to competence. Competence is a prerequisite for trustworthiness in giving instructions. Just because you are credible as a person doesn’t necessarily mean you are competent at what you do.
When you interact with others, you do greater than just assess your personal level of credibility and competence, the first two Cs. The next C is transparency, which has to do with how clearly a person communicates his or her message to others. If someone has been talking to you in a way that is unclear about what they need or need, it can be tougher for you to help them or, more specifically, refer them to someone who needs their product or service. If someone is not sure what they value and feel, it won’t be easy for you to read them and connect with them. So even if someone has established credibility and is clearly competent, without clarity it’s difficult to fully understand how to recommend them effectively.
It is human nature to judge others on whether or not they are reliable, competent and clear. The fourth C is connectivity. It’s a term coined recently, but its importance for human interactions is also as old as time itself. Connectivity refers to the quantity and quality of a person’s connections. Nowadays, it is quite easy to determine a person’s connection, especially online, because you may check the variety of their followers and the quality of their connections.
Whether you are aware of it or not, you are judging how well a person is connected. As you interact with others, you calculate your level of connectedness. You observe a person’s friends and who they spend time with. Knowing a person’s social circle is necessary because it is human nature to want to rub shoulders with individuals who have strong connections. Having the right connections is not only helpful on a every day basis as you deal with your loved ones and resources, but it is also essential, especially in difficult times.
It needs to be clear by now that you simply consciously and/or subconsciously evaluate the people you interact with in terms of their trustworthiness, competence, transparency, and connections. If this is true, then if we turn the tables, it is obvious that you simply are also judged by others in relation to the 4Cs. People make value judgments about each of your Cs, just as you do about them. The 4Cs play a role, whether we prefer it or not, and greatly influence how well we are respected in our communities. If you would like to have strong, healthy relationships with others, you’ll need to invest in the development of each of your Cs. You should be reliable. You should be perceived as competent. You need to be transparent in your communication and develop connections.
This article was written in collaboration with Dr. Oudi Abouchacra.