139. How to maintain a positive professional reputation to achieve career success (Rebroadcast).
Jun 20, 2022
In managing the trajectory of your career, one of the most important assets you have is your reputation. What other people think of you like a) a colleague, leader, or team member, and b) your behavior around others, including clients and stakeholders, will impact their ability to consider you for promotions internally, as well as job opportunities in other organizations.
I am sure you have heard the saying ‘your reputation precedes you.’ That was true before social media and the internet, and it’s even more acute now since there are so many ways we can learn about each other online. I encourage you to take an active role in protecting and managing your reputation. And in this podcast episode, I discuss a few ideas that I believe you can use to help you showcase your competence, likeability, and credibility as a professional.
Your reputation will enhance or decrease your gravitas
In episodes 82 and 83, we have discussed executive presence and gravitas. However, no matter how good your gravitas is as you walk into a job interview or an important meeting, your reputation precedes you.
The people in the room already have an opinion of you. So the interview will either help you reinforce their positive opinion (if they already like and trust you) or have the opposite effect. And this is why executive presence, gravitas, and reputation go hand in hand. And this is why I recorded the three episodes of The Job Hunting Podcast as a series, 82, 83, and 84.
Your reputation is not shown so much in your cover letter or resume. Here are some examples of what you need to manage:
- Your social media activity on LinkedIn and other platforms.
- Your performance at your current job.
- How do you relate to your work colleague?
Walking into an important meeting with a good idea of what people’s opinions are and how you can enhance your strengths and mitigate any issues is a learned skill. I can attest that it is possible to turn up as the dark horse and win the race.
People's opinion of you
If people can form an opinion of you before meeting you, you need to manage your reputation as much as possible. But reputation management is not just thinking you are doing a good job and that others like you. Instead, reputation management is you seeking out and proactively asking others for feedback about your work and management style, listening to the feedback, and improving upon it.
Think about your reputation the same way the company you work for protects theirs. After all, as a professional, you bring in revenue for your household, and you need to protect that revenue generation for years to come, yes? As a coach, I am always surprised that corporate professionals are very strategic when helping the organizations they work for but neglect to work on their careers strategically.
Here is an exercise you can do:
- Contact 10 connections: childhood friends, former and existing work colleagues, etc.
- Ask them how they would describe your qualities and your weaknesses to others.
- I know it's awkward for you, and they might feel uncomfortable too. But explain to them that this is an important exercise to support your career development, and you need to hear the good and the bad so you can learn and prepare for upcoming opportunities.
Your online presence
It’s essential to manage your online presence if you are serious about managing your reputation. This applies not only to your LinkedIn profile and activity but also to other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter and what shows up when you google your name.
- The easiest exercise you can do is open a new incognito window on your browser and review what shows up.
- Decide what on LinkedIn should be public and what should be private.
- Decide if your Facebook and Instagram accounts should be public or private.
- Review and manage your Twitter account with your professional reputation in mind.
How to manage and explain success and failure
I want you to consider - and manage to the best of your ability - how you're describing your successes and your failures.
It's okay to fail. We all fail a lot throughout our careers. But how do you communicate and overcome failure? This is important, especially if you have been let go from your previous job. You can continue to have an amazing career despite setbacks. However, your confidence in your skills and experience need to take the front seat when you’re going to be interrogated about why you left the organization and what your plans are.
If there is something in your career that you think needs to be addressed or could be brought up in an interview, it’s better that you bring it up in the interview. Don’t let it be the elephant in the room. If you feel confident about your answer, that's your truth and will resonate well with the listener.
Conclusion
The truth is that this social proof holds weight, whether you’re deciding where to eat in a new city or tracking down the references of a potential hire. What other people think about you and how they speak of you matters to your career. Your reputation will always precede you. And these days, with everything searchable with just a click of a button, managing that is important.
I hope that the ideas I shared in this post and on the podcast episode will help you start paying attention to your reputation and help you achieve your career goals. Also, don’t forget to listen to episode 84 of The Job Hunting Podcast: there’s way more information in there, so listen to it now!
Podcast Episode Timestamps:
- 04:10 - About reputation
- 06:41 - Reputation and your network
- 12:44 - Reputation and social proof
- 16:14 - Your reputation will enhance or decrease your gravitas
- 17:12 - People's opinion of you and your online presence
- 19:58 - How you manage success and failure affects your reputation
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Episode 81: A career coach's top tip for job interview preparation to guarantee your best performance.
- Episode 82. How to show executive presence in a job interview
- Episode 83: 6 Unexpected ways how to nail your next job interview
- LinkedIn Audit service
