8 Power Tips for Building Your Reputation
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Your reputation is built on being noticed for the right things in the right way by the right people. Reputation is about credibility, trust, and influence.
Reputations create or destroy opportunities.
Danger:
Good reputations are earned slowly and lost quickly. One major blunder outweighs many contributions.
Building your reputation:
- Focus on results even though the environment isn’t perfect. If the only power you have is pointing out deficiencies, you are weak.
- Transform complaints to solutions or you’ll be a weak whiner.
- Work hard and do the dirty work.
- Listen before you speak.
- Frequently ask, “Am I being who I want to be?”
- Frequently ask, “What am I known for?”
- Align with meaningful initiatives. Align…align…align…
- Connect with mentors.
Choosing mentors:
Doug Conant, recently retired CEO of Campbell’s Soup explains finding mentors.
- Look at or near the C-Suite.
- Choose people you admire.
- Consider someone you can learn from.
Approaching mentors:
- Approach them directly.
- Go through HR.
- Consider leaders in other related organizations.
- Explore individuals in trade associations.
- Tap into business organizations like Chambers of Commerce or S.C.O.R.E.
Doug’s life includes many mentors. His advice is, “Just ask. You’ll be amazed at the people who will say yes. In my experience the success rate is 3 to 1.”
Doug told me this personal story. “When I was a junior junior guy, mid-level manager, I saw an article about the CEO of Reader’s Digest and thought I’d like the opportunity to talk with him. I called his office and ended up spending an hour over lunch listening to him talk about his career.”
Tips:
Building a reputation includes intention but requires contribution. Mentors improve your ability to contribute.
Don’t impose on your mentor’s time. A visit every six months with someone in the C-Suite is a treat.
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How have mentors helped your ability to contribute?
Where can emerging leaders find mentors?
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Graphic by Larry Coppenrath (click to enlarge)
This post is based on several interviews: (Listed in order of their interview):
Doug Conant
John Bell
Steve Farber
John Spence
Mike Myatt
Facebook contributors
John Bernard
Dr. John Snyder
Jesse Lyn Stoner
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All great ideas. I learned a lot from this post. Hopefully you wont mind me re posting it on my blog as well.
Some of these principles I have all ready been applying to my own long term plans. Some of them I never even thought about. Thank you for another great post
Anton,
Thanks for the good word. Continued success.
Best,
Dan
Another great post, Dan. Thanks for sharing.
Christian,
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Best,
Dan
Hi Dan,
Thanks again for this great insight! One additional comment I’d like to make about meeting with mentors, especially those in the C-Suite – have 5-8 important questions prepared that you want to ask them that will relate to what you are going through, be prepared to take some action that they may recommend, and in your follow up meeting with them at a future date, be prepared to report on what you did as a result of your last conversation with them.
Speaking of reputation, a great book to read is “Derailed” by Tim Irwin. He profiles 6 CEOs like Bob Nardelli, Carly Fiorina and others who were fired from their CEO post. They all had talent and skill, but he points out that what got them fired was a failure in some aspect of their character. Reputation is built and sustained on one’s character first and foremost.
Cheers.
Bill,
Thanks for a great comment and for extending the conversation.
If you enjoy the privilege of time with a high profile leader, prepare prepare prepare. Great suggestions.
Thanks also for suggesting an added resource.
Best,
Dan
My own experience suggests that scheduling consistency can be hard with mentors – meetings are infrequent and often rescheduled due to business pressures and the busy-ness of the kind of people who make good mentors. For that reason, make each encounter stand on its own; grab, learn and apply whatever is there in that meeting. As you say, Dan, each meeting is a gift.
To support what Mr. Conant says about asking, I find myself entering the “leave a legacy” phase of my career. Whenever I’m approached by someone who wants to talk, or wants to set up a formal mentoring relationship, I have so far always said yes. Just another way of paying it forward.
One more thought: we used to do mentoring lunches in my battalion. As battalion commander, I circulated through the companies in my battalion and had group lunches with all the junior officers in that company. That was their time to ask about my career and my input on their careers. I encouraged my staff officers to do the same thing. The reason: I still carry the notes I got from the handful of senior officers willing to do that for me.
Interesting isn’t it Greg, that legacy is not on the front burner, back burner, in the kitchen, in the house, in the neighborhood until…. when if it were a focal point from the start, vision might be less blurry, crisis de jour less de jour, and so many resources saved.
Hi Greg,
Your comment gives me a sense of encouragement. It lifts me. Thank you.
I know you’re leaving a legacy with all the insights you share here and on your blog.
Thank you for being a person of influence.
Best,
Dan
Great post as usual. I like “If the only power you have is pointing deficiencies, you are weak”. So true. Thanks for sharing Dan.
A word of encouragement is a lovely thing. Thank you
Dear Dan,
I agree that it takes time to build reputation and takes seconds to lose. I also understand that there is thin line between reputation and image. And usually we use both terms in same fashion. Image is something that is created quickly by others. It is perceived opinion of others about you. Reputation is based on individual character. So, reputation does dot lost even some people try to damage image. Even image building does not lead to reputation building. Person with character in unethical environment may lose his image. That does not mean that he or she does not have reputation.
Mentors are courageous people. They support you morally and mentally. They take stand for you in need. Emerging leaders can find mentors who have been emerging leaders. But that is a challenging task. There are few who can support, encourage and groom emerging leaders. Most of the people will take different stand that criticize and demean the effort of emerging leaders.
Dear Ajay,
I’m always glad to see your comment.
I absolutely love how you differentiate between image building and reputation building. Powerful insight. Thank you.
Best,
Dan
Dear Dan,
I liked the initial presentation remarks ‘Reputation is about credibility, trust, and influence. Good reputations create opportunities’ and the practical tips to earn good reputation.
Again for choosing mentors, one needs to adopt a simple method of looking for people whom you admire and should approach them with a polite, respectful approach. Show your sincerity and the willingness to learn through their experience to get them committed to guide as your mentor.
Consistency with honesty can pay off good dividends to get the heart of mentors who would equally be keen to help you in your endeavor.
Finally, character is one of the strong pillars to grow successfully and maintain owns charisma.
Dear Dr. Asher,
Always a pleasure seeing you. Your comment reminded me of a technique I used to snag a mentor.
I invited a leader to lunch, which I purchased, and brought along a pen and tablet with me. He had no idea I was going to do this.
As we ate lunch I asked a few questions and wrote down his answers. Even if I disagreed, I kept my mouth shut, jotted down his thoughts and asked follow ups. He felt honored.
It wasn’t long before he sent me an email telling me how much he enjoyed lunch and asking when we could do it again, his treat.
Best,
Dan
Dan, this is my first time on your blog. I love the article and various contributions.
One of the fastest ways to glean the wisdom from mentors is to take them out to lunch. I haven’t been able to do this in a while, but I have taken many successful leaders to lunch and gleaned wisdom as they spoke.
Like you said, I wrote down their words and asked questions. When a mentor speaks, I keep my mouth shut. If I knew what they knew, I wouldn’t need to take them out to lunch, would I?
Blessings.
A company where I worked a number of years ago had the following “Philosophy” on the inside cover of every one of their boxes:
“Our Philosophy I s Simple… It goes back to a time when ambition was clearing the fields and craftsmanship was building farms … when egss came from the chicken house and milk from the family cow. This was a time when, if you made something poorly, word of mouth would put you out of business before you ever got started. We think the same should be true today. We believe no matter how much self-promotion we might do it would do no good if customer satisfaction was not built into our products.”
The owner of that company was my mentor – loved him like a father – a very wise man. It seems fitting to share this with “y’all” today.
Thanks. Great philosophy.
Hi Scott,
Beautiful.
I trust your real estate business is doing well in Florida.
Best,
Dan
Looking forward to my best year ever Dan! Busiest January since entering the business (btw it’s in Texas) – Additionally, I’m the trainer/education guy for my broker.
Doh! Thanks for clearing me up! Continued success.
Dan:
Sound advice. I just finished “It’s Not About the Coffee” by Howard Behar who was CEO of Starbucks for 21 years. He’s become a big advocate of the work my company is going in government. In his book he talks about “wearing one hat” — the powerful idea of figuring out who you really are and sticking with it come thick and thin.
Six years ago I had the pleasure of attending Leadership at the Peak, the Center for Creative Leadership’s top program, and it is all about knowing yourself.
Reputation is about authenticity and authenticity emerges from self-knowledge and self-confidence.
You are awesome!
John
One of the established mentor programs that I had the good fortune to participate in, was formalized with content, time frames, training for mentors (who volunteered and had supervision), etc. The standard was to meet initially Q two weeks for the first 3 months and then monthly after that for another 3 months. That kept the continuity and commitment going. And, stretch your perceived box of mentors and look outside as well. While I was in behavioral healthcare, my mentor was the head of pastoral services and that was a wonderful match up.
I believe in three things for my reputation:
-Talk straight.
-Talk clear.
-Talk now.
Talk straight – no bullshit. Ask what you have to ask and say what you have to say. Never be afraid of looking at things, problems or people in the eye. Be honest. Be modest. Be kind.
Talk clear – make yourself understood to the fullest extent. Never leave others in the dark. Let others know you can always be trusted. Talking clear also means listening to others. Only by listening you can come up with a clear answer.
Talk now – address the issues before they swallow you. People tend to wait, hoping that problems will go away. Some do. Most do not. And when you bring something to the table, don’t bring just problems. Bring solutions.
That’s about it.
“Good reputations are earned slowly and lost quickly. One major blunder outweighs many contributions.”
I agree that this is the case, but I do not think it should be the case. People are imperfect and make mistakes. There is no reason that years of hard work should be trashed because someone didn’t plan appropriately, had a family crises to handle, or just wasn’t up to par on their game for a few days.
My best mentors have been the honest ones. It may not have been “easy” to take the “less positive” feedback sometimes but if it is someone I respect, I want to hear it (I think!).
Tallahassee has a lot of fantastic networking organizations where you can get some mentoring time (I don’t know if it’s a formal as the ones mentioned here) but there are scheduled, organized, opportunities where we can meet fellow professionals with whom we can possibly follow up more privately for mentoring.
The other thought that came to me while reading this, on the side issue of how easy it is to lose a good reputation quickly and how hard it is to rebuild it — the other dynamic driving our reputations now is the immediacy of consumer feedback. When I was visiting a business in New York City, I knew that there was one employee who had been identified on Yelp as “sassy” and “uncooperative” (the business was small). When I did business with her ultimately, I suspected I was dealing with the employee who had been named. Although her attitude was a little “sassy,” she did provide me good service. When I asked her name at the end in order to give her a tip (and confirm in my head she was who I thought), she genuinely looked scared to give me her name. I think she might have been afraid she would end up on yelp again! Sometimes that immediacy can unfairly tarnish a GOOD reputation as quickly as it can bolster one. Mentors and mentees are likely to find themselves discussing this type of issue more and more.
I like the mentoring part. This is an interesting area I seldome explore. Do you have to ask officially about mentoring? Does this ahve to be informal/assumed kinda thing?
Hi Dan and Leadership Freakers. Another great post and wise and valuable comments. On building your reputation I see two key things not mentioned (directly). Make decisions (regularly). Admit learnings – not mistakes (the shift in mindset is very empowering).
On mentors – the whole world is a mentor, you have access to anyone through media, books, etc. but the real leverage comes from putting yourself on the line, by showing you are prepared to listen, to put to practice, to learn, to do things you haven’t done before. A mentor will do that for you. 28 years after I first met him I am now back ‘learning’ from one of my first mentors. The other ones I have are 4 years and 6 years old – most everything they do is an outcome of how I behave, our staff are much the same , so let’s not forget what we can learn from that as well.
Lastly Dan, I’m heading your way soon so I’ll be in touch. Doc same goes for you.
Best
Richard
Great post Dan as well as great comments by the community. Like mentioned by Croadie, life is full of mentors. My own personal and favorite mentor who still to this day sheds wisdom when he looks your way is my father. He was mentoring when the “C” suite stood for the address we lived in Apt. 5C. My school-less dad made life simple, straightforward and full of tiny bits of knowledge. His simple credo was summarized in a couple of words: ” A handshake binds your truth, don’t extend one until you know it.” ” Your character is defined by why you do it and less by what you do.” “Never be ashamed when your cause is right.” ” It is the humble man that can receive and return much more.” “Stay true to your dream and you will never need to wake.” “Love and honor your family not just those that carry your name.” ” Don’t wait for death to make peace with God, live it every day.”
Some of these were difficult for me to translate but the message is there. I wrote a lot of these down as I was growing up and it seems the most important thing I learned from my father was ” We never finish growing up we just do it differently as time goes by.”
My most important mentor was recently 86 and the gleam in his eyes is still there, his silence so deafening, and his glaze so piercing but his smile so warm and his love so fulfilling. 🙂
Linked In would be highly recommended also for connecting with C level professionals
Good add Sheriff. Thanks