How To Rebuild Your Reputation

Hello, everyone. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the latest episode of The Intentional Career Podcast.

I'm your host, Femi Akinyemi, the founder of the Unleashed Academy, as well as a host of another podcast called The YOU Unleashed with Femi Akinyemi podcast.

This podcast is focused on giving you the tools and tips that you need to help you overcome the challenges, the barriers, that stop you from having the career you want and earning the money truly deserve.

Being intentional about your career is really about making sure that every step, every move you make, you're constantly, intentionally, making the right moves and not floating by in your career, getting tossed about by the waves.

And that's what this is all about.

Today I have a very special topic I'll be talking about, and today I will be talking about recovering your reputation.

It's really about when you lose a label that they've attached to you and you regain your standing within the organization.

It's not easy. Let me tell you, I have been there.

I remember working on a project a long time ago. It was in the early days of working on a project.

It was a big change project where we were looking to bring about a new system that was going to impact people on their jobs. 

People might lose their jobs, that sort of thing.

And I hadn't gotten the confidence I needed at the time to take on such a role.

I had the skills, but not the confidence.

I wasn't usually assertive enough.

I would go into meetings and I would find that the stakeholder who I was supposed to be navigating and driving to a solution was pushing back big time.

I mean, jobs were being lost, so there were some serious pushback and emotions involved, and I couldn't handle it.

I couldn't get my message across.

And very quickly, I started to come across as someone who was incapable of doing the job.

Now, the reality is that none of us is perfect.

Making mistakes or getting things wrong is just a part of life  and part of the learning process.

But sometimes, though, depending on how often you make mistakes or how seriously you make mistakes, you may find your reputation is tarnished or damaged, and people start labeling you with really cruel terms such as incompetent, untrustworthy, difficult, or even worse.

I mean, imagine having a bad day, and people all of a sudden think you're difficult.

But the mistakes you make truly are rarely severe enough to cost you a job.

But it can easily cost you your colleague's respect. And, we all know, losing respect of your colleagues can be quite damaging. Right?

So the thing to always think about is, a reputation is a fragile asset. 

I think William Shakespeare wrote in Othello.

And I'm getting all poetic and literary students will like this, is where Shakespeare in Othello says, Good name in man and woman is the immediate jewel of the souls, who steals my purse steals trash, but he that filches from me my good name, robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed.

A good reputation is certainly worth protecting because your reputation is built partly on your own behavior and traits,  and partly on how other people choose to see you.

So you can only influence it.

You can't control it, you can only influence it, but that makes it fragile.

But it's also at risk from factors beyond your control, such as unfounded rumors that spread widely or maliciously.

And let's not forget, in the workplace we are talking about.

The reality is that sometimes there are people who have politics in mind and will take anything, they weaponize anything to affect you.

And all of a sudden you can find that your pay rise.

When it's time for pay rise, you're affected. When it's time for reviews, you're affected.

When it's time to apply for a new job, you're affected,  promotions, you are affected, so your reputation is really reeling.

Something should hold there, but it's out of your control.

So sometimes stuff happens, you make a mistake.

But the question is, how do you bounce back?

How do you regain your reputation?

And there is an art to it.

There is a skill you can apply to rebuilding your reputation.

So while your reputation can be damaged almost overnight, it takes a long time to be rebuilt, sadly, but you need to be resilient and patient to do it.

I've been there and I think I have to admit, in my time I didn't have the experience or knowledge I had, and I left the company eventually because it was really tough.

You go into another meeting, there's whispers and people are saying, oh, it's you, and some people will flat out tell you.

How do we know you're good enough to do this?

And you can imagine what that does for your self confidence, your self esteem.

So there's no one size fits all approach to rebuilding your confidence. 

But one of the key factors being able to demonstrate to your colleagues, managers, customers, that you deserve to have your good name restored.

So here are some things you can do.

Number one, Uncover the truth.

This is going to need some really, really honest, brutal conversations where you ask yourself, What did or did you not do?

Were you in the wrong?

Have you been unfairly blamed?

And why did people react the way they did?

To you it might be a small thing, but for others, that was a cardinal sin. 

Or it might be a cultural rule within the organization you broke, which you were not aware of.

So you've got to think about that.

Here's one thing to think about.

When you're admitting to mistakes, prepare yourself for the possible consequences and dealing with the heat that comes with it.

Number two, Start rebuilding.

No matter who was responsible for the situation that cost your reputation, you want to limit the damage.

As soon as possible.

I remember one of the things I did when I was working with a client where I made a big mistake.

I didn't deliver what we thought was quality, and that's partly on me because I didn't manage her expectations to make sure we agreed on what good looks like.

So my version of good didn't match hers. Very quickly I fess up.

I sent a long email explaining the reason why, but I take full responsibility, and I will work long hours to remedy it, to fix it and make sure I have a full support.

So you have to own it to start rebuilding.

And that's part of the action plan.

You map out a vision for your future self.

What do you want to perceive that?

What do you want to be perceived as?

What do you want your skill to be seen to be?

There are ways to do this, but you have to do that very quickly.

You make sure your new vision for yourself is clear, is mapped out,  and you need to start living these changes. 

Own it. Start living the changes.

But you need to believe in yourself before an else believes in you.

If you don't work with confidence, and say, Yes, I made a mistake. 

I own it, and I'm trying to become a better person.

If you can't believe the truth about yourself, this new you. 

No one else is going to, and you have to challenge any negative thoughts, and you have to deal with the mind chat.

Sometimes you go into a room and all of a sudden you get paranoid and everyone's whispering and you think they're talking about you.

You have to deal with that.

And then finally, I would say make a list.

If you're trying to make amends for previous negative behavior or bad habits, it's important you don't lapse into this.

So you constantly need to review this list of habits you have. 

Oh, I'm regularly late for meetings.

I don't send actions.

I don't follow up on things.

My attention to detail isn't there?

Have a good checklist that you're constantly checking up on to say, have I done this?

Have I done that?

Did I get to the meeting on time? Check?

Have I sent an action list of what we agreed in the meeting? Check.

Have I completed my own actress and followed up with everyone - check. Is my attention to detail all there? Check.

Notice how I'm talking about things that I've learned about myself over the year.

And already I can really even though I'm doing this off-hand.

But beware people who struggle to accept it.

But all you have in your weaponry is consistency.

Day in, day out.

Sometimes you fall.

Sometimes you make mistakes.

We've just got to keep grinding, keep working hard to reestablish and build this new reputation.

But the point is some people will struggle to accept it and some people want, but you just got to keep going focus on you. 

But the main thing to remember is a good reputation helps you succeed in your career.

It's critical.

And to feel good about it, it's important, but it is fragile.

It's easily lost.

And to restore it, you need to confront and deal with the reality, the negativity.

Look to reverse your bad behavior, and once your standing is restored, you have to maintain the change, to become the change you desire to be.

Don't forget, these are things we could apply to your career and also to your life in every area.

But this is my big takeaway today.

Reputation is lost, but work hard to regain it and make sure you focus.

You focus on holding it tight.

Thanks for listening to this week's edition of the Intentional Career Podcast, where it's all about holding and looking after your reputation.

It still matters no matter what the people do day to day.

Today reputation still matters.

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Share this with your friends, family, and do leave some comments telling us what you'd like me to talk about next week.

Remember, stay intentional about your career.

Don't let the wind blow you about.

Stay focused.

Stay clear.

If you're intentional, you will have the career you truly deserve. 

Have a great week, everyone.