A good reputation is more valuable than money.
– Publilius Syrus
The Idea: Shakespeare understood that “Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.” Reputations are often overstated, misunderstood, and occasionally lost in a moment of folly. Most reputations are formed because of emotional impact, and it’s what’s “not said” that is remembered. Are you aware of your reputation and are you protecting it?
Discovering your reputation
It would be hard to find an example of someone whose reputation was not affected by his or her attitude. Jeffrey Gitomer, author, speaker, and business trainer, reminds us: “Most people don’t read about, study, practice, live, nor are they dedicated to strengthening their attitude.” If that’s the case, most reputations are at stake.
Being emotionally aware and stable allows us to be at our best and also to receive criticism the best. Harvey Deutschendorf, author, speaker, and (EQ) emotional intelligence expert, sites some of the reasons why emotional intelligence is a reputation builder and why it is the top trait organizations are looking for. Why do people with high EQ have strong reputations? He says:
- “Their ability to not become flustered when things don’t go according to plan.”
- “They are people who have a high level of influence in an organization even if they don’t hold titles or official designations.”
- “Their example of rising above the daily irritations and problems earns them respect from those above them as well as their colleagues.”
The only way we will understand our reputation – that is, how we make others feel outside of the tangibles – is to be comfortable receiving feedback. It’s crucial to understanding how we impact others.
The Cost of Being True
In a recent Harvard Business Journal article, Jonathan Gottschall shares the story of Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, who faced fierce scrutiny over the validity of her company’s work, despite Theranos’s success in the public’s eye.
“Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, constructed an inspiring hero narrative starring herself—a precocious girl-genius who, at nineteen years of age, began pioneering medical technologies that could potentially save millions of lives around the world. Despite abundant warning signs, and despite the Silicon Valley company’s refusal to provide real evidence that their technology worked, journalists didn’t skeptically evaluate Holmes’s story—they simply repeated it. They told and re-told Holmes’s story until she began to seem less like an actual person, and more like a living symbol—of progress, of innovation, of female empowerment.”
When the company hit turbulence, the public skewered her and her story, insinuating that she had not been truthful about her product and vision. After a while, her reputation worked against her, taking on the form of a “greek tragedy,” with the protagonist falling as quickly as she had risen. Both her rise and fall were events disproportionate to reality – that’s the power and danger of an effective story.
“While stories often provide symbiotic benefits to teller and receiver, we must remember that they are told mainly in the teller’s interests. We humans are—by our deepest natures—suckers for story.”
Your words, and others perceptions are your reputation. Fight the need to exaggerate, inappropriately expound, or speak with bravado. Your story must be steady and true.
