Why Your Professional Reputation Matters

I was reminded recently about the importance of a good reputation and how it is a key part of your brand. As you build your career and work with more people and businesses, it creates more connections you can leverage and the key to leveraging those connections is a good reputation. People will only recommend those they have had a good experience with and once you have lost your reputation with someone it is very hard to get it back.

Building Trust Through Consistency

To build a good reputation, you must be reliable and consistent in your behaviour. Only then can people trust you to do tasks and in turn want to work with you. Reliable and consistent doesn’t mean that you have to drop everything and pick up tasks immediately, it means that you can manage tasks and communicate effectively when the task is due and when you are able to complete it by said time. 

Being able to manage people’s expectations is another key skill you will have to master to build your reputation and it starts with good communication. Sharing progress early allows people to see if you are on track and helps you gather early feedback.Communicating regularly concerning the progress of the project with milestones allows the team to know when to expect things.

A top tip for building trust is to communicate regularly with key stakeholders - give timelines and stick to them.

The Ripple Effect of Reputation

The ripple effect of building a good reputation can not be underestimated; I can tell you countless opportunities that have come my way through people I have worked with and helped. A good reputation can not only help with creating opportunities, it also helps to build out your network by creating new connections and strengthens relationships, which in turn can unlock your career. Being the person that people want to work with is a great position to be in, especially in this market. 

Protecting Your Professional Image

Once you lose a good reputation, it is very hard to get it back. I previously had a direct report in my team - let’s call them Hakem. Hakem had a habit of not pulling their weight and relying on the other person they were working with to do the bulk of the work, they would also take a long time to complete tasks and it became very difficult to work with them because of the coaching and support they needed. Despite putting them on a performance improvement plan they still weren’t improving and they eventually left the business. Once they resigned it was discovered that Hakem had spent his time interviewing and working on his portfolio and it was later found out that he stole work and claimed it as his own. Once the team had found out they were very upset and didn’t want anything to do with Hakeem. Hakem had destroyed his reputation with the team and even though he tried to get on their good side they would never want to work with him again.  

This is an example of how once you lose your reputation, it is almost impossible to get it back, this is why you should treat your reputation like a precious stone and protect it. When leaving a company, try not to burn bridges as the industry is very small.

Your Reputation as a Long-term Investment

As part of building your career you should be thinking about your reputation. Think about what impression you want to leave people with and act accordingly.