ABSTRACT
Credibility, the essence of trust, is critical to the development of leadership skills among women managers in male-dominant organizations. This article describes credibility as an emergent theme in the accounts of fourteen women managers in five federal agencies. Women who established follower credibility exhibited three key behavioral patterns: (a) building a track record of success; (b) displaying technical competence; and (c) demonstrating a service ethic. The article discusses organizational obstacles encountered by women, effective strategies used, and derives implications for public personnel management.
