Dear Graham Weaver,

Your emphasis on hiring attributes instead of experiences is refreshing, but what about credibility? Lack of credibility got me fired, and I want to craft credibility in a relatable way to save me from the same trouble in the future. Can you guide me on crafting credibility for my attributes?

Here is what happened. I was hired as a product manager, and I spent the first 6 months working as an engineer. I learned a new technology, and documented structural barriers to innovation before moving to the product team.

As a product manager I interviewed people from various departments to validate my findings, and they were sound. After two weeks, I presented a diagnosis, a guiding policy, and a set of practical coherent actions to the owners.

I got pats on my back. The CTO “could not agree more with me”, and the CEO gave me an enthusiastic “F*ck! He is right!”. Given my somber diagnosis, this felt way too easy, but I pushed it forward anyway, and I asked to discuss it with the board, the next day if possible.

Long story short, I never heard back, and I was eventually fired. Months later, while debriefing to learn how I could improve, I asked Marty Cagan for insights, and it was obvious for him:

“If you couldn’t predict how any exec team would respond to someone with no credibility coming in after two weeks and presenting a deck line that, then I don’t know what to tell you.”

I am grateful for Marty’s feedback, but man that hurt! Not a word questioning the sanity of my diagnosis, or the quality of my policies and actions. Yet, I was naive, and I missed something crucially important: credibility.

So Graham, how can I craft credibility for my attributes to save me from similar trouble in the future?