Are You Credible in Your Current Role? The Competence Litmus Test
Sarah was a brilliant software engineer. For seven years, she crushed every technical challenge thrown at her. When the Director of Engineering role opened up, the choice seemed obvious. She got the promotion, the title, the pay bump.
Six months later, her team was in revolt.
Not because Sarah wasn't smart. Not because she didn't care. But because the competence that earned her the promotion had nothing to do with the competence her new role required.
She was still trying to be the best coder in the room. Her team needed her to be the best leader.
This is the competence trap that derails more leaders than any other single factor. And if you're reading this, there's a good chance you're in it right now.
The Question Most Leaders Never Ask
Here's the litmus test that separates trusted leaders from technically proficient managers:
"Am I credible in the role I currently hold, or am I still trading on credibility from the role I used to hold?"
The first dimension of trust—Competence—isn't about being good at something. It's about being good at the right things for your current role. And most leaders confuse the two.
The Two Types of Competence (And Why You Probably Have the Wrong One)
Technical Competence: Your Past Success
This is the expertise that got you promoted. The financial analyst who can build any model. The salesperson who always hits quota. The engineer who writes flawless code.
Technical competence = "I can do the work better than anyone on my team."
You earned your stripes here. Your team respects your past. But here's the problem: Past success is not current credibility.
Leadership Competence: Your Current Requirement
This is the expertise your role now demands. Strategic thinking. Developing others. Managing complexity. Influencing without authority. Creating systems that scale beyond you.
Leadership competence = "I can help my team do the work better than they could without me."
The shift is seismic. And most leaders never make it.
When Your Strengths Become Your Liability
The Engineer Turned Manager keeps jumping into the code to "fix things faster" instead of coaching developers. Team thinks: "They don't trust us."
The Top Salesperson Turned Director still owns the biggest accounts instead of building the team's closing skills. Team thinks: "Great seller, terrible leader."
The Marketing Genius Turned VP personally writes all the campaigns instead of setting strategy. Team thinks: "We're just execution drones."
In every case, the leader is demonstrating competence. Just the wrong competence for the role they're in.
Your team doesn't care how good you used to be at your old job. They only care about how good you are at your current one.
The Credibility Crisis No One Talks About
Here's what makes this brutal: Your team won't tell you.
They won't say, "You're a great engineer but a mediocre manager." They'll just quietly lose trust in your leadership while still respecting your technical chops.
You'll notice it in subtle ways:
• They stop bringing you problems
• They wait for you to make all the decisions
• They execute your instructions but don't bring ideas
• They respect you, but they don't follow you
Respect for past competence ≠ Trust in current competence
You can be highly respected and completely ineffective as a leader. That's the competence trap.
The One Question That Changes Everything
Here's the question that will either make you uncomfortable or set you free:
"If I were hiring someone to do my current job, would I hire me based on the competencies I have today?"
Be honest. If the answer is no—or even "I'm not sure"—you have work to do.
But here's the good news: Competence is learnable. The leaders who earn trust don't start out competent in every dimension. They're just honest about their gaps and relentless about closing them.
What's Next?
If this post resonated, you're not alone. Most leaders struggle with this transition from technical expert to trusted leader. The difference between those who succeed and those who stall? A systematic approach to building leadership competence.
That's exactly what I help leaders do through my work at Higher Ground Life Consultancy—using the 5Cs of Trust framework to diagnose where credibility gaps exist and build the competencies that matter most.
Want to explore whether you're demonstrating the right type of competence for your role? Let's talk.
Michael is the Co-Founder of The Higher Ground Life Consultancy and creator of the TrustPulse® assessment framework. His books, “ Choosing Higher Ground” and "The Guidebook to Building Trusting Relationships," explores the 5Cs of Trust that separate leaders people follow from managers people tolerate.
