Your reputation is your personal brand.
It is the first thing that people think about you and how they see you. I have often equated it to a bank account. Money goes into the account as you accomplish things and add to your reputation. If things don’t go well and a few mistakes are made then you may have to make a withdrawal against your balance. If you have enough in the account because you have a strong reputation, then it won’t hurt you too much.
People will forgive mistakes if you have a strong personal brand because they know who you are already and they have seen how you respond to things.
This is why it is important to build a strong personal brand early on in your career and protect it.
John, who is one of my clients, called me unexpectedly in the middle of the day. When I asked him what was going on, he sounded a bit frustrated which was not the norm for him. He shared the recent conversations and events that had transpired over the last few weeks since we had last met. The bottom line was that he was sure that his reputation was tarnished and he was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to restore it.
John and I set up a time to meet and discussed each event and conversation that had taken place. (It is important to slow down when things like this happen to calm the emotional reaction and help gain perspective on the situation. In the moment it may feel bad, but with the passage of time, what occurred can be seen with more clarity.) I asked him some questions to help him begin to sort things out. Did he have any responsibility in what occurred? Was it true that his reputation was tarnished or did it just feel that way? Are there changes he needs to make? Given what happened, how does he want to show up going forward?
He realized through our conversations that he did have some responsibility and could have done some things differently to prevent what happened. He owned up to the situation with his manager and created a plan to address it. His communication and actions were now going to reflect who he wanted to be and how he wanted others to see him.
When this happened, John had a choice to make. He could play the victim or do something about it. John chose to jump into action. He took the time to reflect on what happened, shared what he discovered and put a plan of action together to help him rebuild his reputation and erase what occurred. His actions took a problem and turned it into an opportunity. It gave him the chance to learn from this challenge that he faced and make changes to show the personal brand that he wants people to see.