Undocumented Features

The Self-Project: Six Building Blocks of a Quality Reputation

September 6, 2007 – 7:23 pm

Reputation.  It takes years to build, and seconds to destroy.  It’s also one of the primary building blocks of your career.  Perception is reality; you are to your coworkers and superiors what you appear to be.

How does one go about building a quality reputation?  Whole stacks of books could be and have been written on the subject, but for our purposes, I am going to stick the basics.  Below are the six simple things you can do to build a reputation that means something to others:

• Meet your deadlines.  Business is time-sensitive.  You miss deadlines, you look bad.  Worse than that, you make someone else look bad.  The next person in the project’s chain, the project manager, the business owner, your boss, the business owner’s boss… if you trip up the project, you trip up everyone.  They won’t like it.
• Own your mistakes.  If you do miss a deadline, tell someone. Tell your project manager, your boss, and the next person in the chain.  They will communicate things out from there.  Be honest, admit the situation, and negotiate for a new deadline that you can meet.  If you screwed something else up, do the same- tell the people it matters to and negotiate how you will fix the situation, and by what time.
• Fix Your Messes.  Again, if you messed up, fix it yourself if possible.  Don’t bring people problems; bring them solutions.  This is especially true if you are responsible for the problem.
• Don’t Make Excuses.  Do tell people why things went wrong.  Do not use it as an excuse.  Tell them what went wrong, and what you think you can do within your control to prevent it in the future.  If it’s out of your control, ask for a meeting with the parties involved to find a fix for the process that led you here.  Own the problem and solve it.
• Share Credit.  When you succeed, solve a problem, clean up your mess, or whatever, be sure to give credit to everyone who helped you. This recognizes the work of others; people appreciate that, and they will remember it.
• Blame the Right Thing.  People screw up.  Things go wrong.  When these things happen, take the time to find out why, then, once again, take steps to solve the problem.  Did someone screw up because they weren’t properly trained?  Did they not have the right info to make the decision they made?  Did something fail?  Was it properly maintained?  What could have prevented it?  Anyone can see a problem and assign blame.  Step up to the plate and solve the problem for the long term.
• Communicate.  Never leave people in the dark regarding things they need to know.  If they get blindsided or screw up, and you could have prevented it by simply sharing information, they will remember it.  A very, very long time.

There is a lot more to building integrity and reputation, but in a nut shell, this is it.  If you do these six things consistently, people will recognize you as someone with integrity, who is helpful, dependable, and reliable.  Start here, and your career will thrive. 

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