Reputation Is Everything!

I was delivering a team training a few weeks ago. I had been with the team before, but I had not met their National Manager. Staff were mingling amongst themselves, awaiting for the day of training to begin. A gentleman who I didn't recognise walked into view and strode up to me with his arm outstretched saying in a pleasant voice, "you must be Colin...". We shook hands and I said warmly, and with a smiley "I am".

"Colin, your reputation precedes you, I'm..." He proceeded to introduce himself, and we briefly exchanged pleasantries.

What Goes Before You

Does your reputation precede you?

Are you aware of what reputation you have?

Take a moment and think about that. What sort of reputation do you have? Take it even further. What reputation does your business have, your service and the product you provide? Have you given it some thought?

We are building our reputation minute by minute, day by day. What's yours like?

Forming a Reputation

A reputation once formed, is hard to shake off. This can be a good thing but it can work against you. Especially if you have a bad one!

How you interact with others contributes to the reputation you will have. Your reputation will go ahead of you. Your reputation is spread quickly byway of word of mouth. Your reputation never sleeps. You will never know who hears it, nor do you know how far reaching it can travel.

I've met people who deliberately went out of their way to gain a reputation for being tough, mean, violent, aggressive and confrontational. I've also met people who have purposefully worked at developing a reputation of being, kindhearted, generous, understanding, approachable and knowledgeable.

What you do, whether infrequently or consistently, contributes to the formation of the reputation you have at home, in the workplace or on the sports field.

Do you pay attention to what you are doing, that creates your reputation?

Who Cares?
Is it all that important to be concerned about your reputation? Surely, we have no control over it. After all it's peoples perspective and we can't control that!

You're partly right - we can influence the way people perceive us and in doing so, influence how they form their opinions of you. And in turn, the kind of reputation you will have.

You buy a product or service based on the reputation it has. Often passed onto you by friends. I've heard this spoken amongst friends when telling of a restaurant they ate at, where the service was poor and the food portions minuscule. How many times have we spoken of poor behaviour in the workplace and passed it onto others? Bad news travels fast!

A negative reputation can affect your ability to get a promotion, secure employment or make new friends. The cost of a bad reputation is often not obvious as many speak of your reputation behind closed doors. The damage done by a poor reputation is more often done behind closed doors and shared over a coffee or wine. Is it important to have a good one - YES!

Make it a Good One
I've listed for you 4 R's that need to be present to form a good reputation. They what I consider the basics necessary for forming a great reputation. A reputation that will precede you, in a positive way.

Responsible: Are you responsible? Do people know that you take ownership for what you do, whether it works or doesn't. Do you take care of others property? Do you make decisions and willing to be responsible for the results? Do you drive the company car as carefully as you would your own? Are you able to admit that you're wrong? That you made a screw up of things and are willing to own what happened or are you the type who avoids taking responsibility for what you do. There's plenty of those types around!

To form a great reputation you need to be responsible. Are you? If not - what changes will you make to begin to reshape your reputation?



Reliable: Can you be counted on? Do you do what you say you will? Do you say what you mean? Are you timely? Do you turn up when you say you will? Do you deliver what you said you would? Do you value others who are reliable, people who can be counted on? Of course you do! So... are you reliable?

Being reliable versus unreliable is about whether people can count on you. If you can be counted on, then you will be forming a sound reputation with the people around you.

Receptive: How receptive are you to feedback given you? Do you embrace change easily? Are you open to new processes? Do you take an interest in new ideas? Are you able to be given direction easily? How approachable are you?

Your level of receptivity will guide your reputation. People will speak of you as being an approachable person.

Remarkable: What do you do on a regular basis that makes you stand out? What are you doing that makes people want to speak about you in daily conversations or over email and MSN?

Are you committed to being remarkable at what you do or are you just plain average?

If you want to be talked about in such a way, that you have a reputation that precedes you. Then you need to be truly remarkable at what you do. It is this quality that must be present, that will ensure you are worthy of others remarking about you. What are you doing to make this happens?

A Strong Foundation

A reputation that is based on you being: responsible, reliable and receptive will positively influence the building of a reputation that can pay positive dividends to your advancement in your career, relationships, recruitment or sporting success.

Make a decision to be committed to forming a positive reputation. This will require you to be aware of how you treat people you meet daily, the service you provide and the product you deliver. You will need to be more conscious of what you do and how that can add or detract from you having a good reputation. Take this message lightly, and you will be ankle tapping yourself. It's up to you whether you find it important to have a "...reputation that precedes you".

Personally, I have found it invaluable to consistently contribute to the forming of a positive reputation. How about you?