Research tells us that the biggest factor in career success is reputation. Simply put, that’s what people say about you when you’re not in the room. Often people will say to me, ‘OK, but I can’t influence that, can I?’. My answer: ‘Yes you can!’. Here are some simple principles when it comes to assessing your current reputation, and curating the one you want which will support your future career.
Temperature Check – how do I know what people think of me now?
The best way to find out how you’re perceived across your team, department or even business, is to gather some feedback from a variety of sources. Think of this as your own personal employee experience survey, or person to person 360 feedback report. I’ve talked about gathering quality feedback a number of times before, but this is slightly different…
My recommendation is first to spend 10 minutes jotting down a list of people whose opinion you would value, who would give you useful feedback (i.e. not just ‘everyone thinks you’re great’), and most importantly who could influence your career. Try to get a range of people from across your department or business, so you can assess if your reputation needs some work in a specific area. I’d recommend you add your Line Manager to this list too.
Once you’ve got your list, reach out to them with a simple message such as ‘I’m doing some research around my reputation at the moment and would really value some time with you to gather your thoughts’. Make sure you signal to them what you’re looking for. If you’re time short like most of us, only make contact with one or two people at a time, and maybe start closer to home with your Line Manager. You want to have enough time to engage with everyone properly, so don’t just send an email en masse and risk having a flood of responses to deal with at once. On a practical note, make sure you set up the appointment/zoom call, and if you’re face to face, you bring the coffee!
When you get into the meeting, firstly say that you appreciate them taking the time but also that anything they say will be taken in good spirit. There’s always the risk that you could unearth something that you didn’t expect or want to hear. Once you’ve set the ground rules, ask them questions such as, ‘How well known am I in [department]?’, ‘What words would you / your team use to describe me?’, ‘What am I known for?, and my personal favourite, ‘What do people say about me when I am not in the room?’. Make excellent notes!
Once you have completed your meetings, you will no doubt have a sense of the themes and trends within your current reputation. But I do encourage you to spend some time reviewing your notes and drawing together key words onto one page for you to reflect upon.
Now the key part: Is my reputation the one I want!?
It may be that your reputation is exactly where it needs to be, however on the other hand you could find out that most of your reputation is based on a project you completed 4 years ago, or even that people don’t really understand what you do or therefore stand for. Either way, as I see it, there’s always room for improvement – the most successful people consciously sense check and refine their reputations in their day to day lives.
What do I WANT to be known for?
If you find that your reputation isn’t 100% on point, it’s time to work out what you want people to know about you, and know you for. It’s these things that you want them saying when you’re not in the room. If you’re stuck regarding where to start, grab a piece of paper and write ‘What I love doing’ and / or ‘Things that I am most proud of’ at the top. Then start writing. I recommend identifying three things, such as: you love leading people, you are passionate about analytics, and that you get the most energy from being a subject matter expert in your area. Simply put, these are your strengths – the things you have always been great at and probably view as ‘just the way I am’.
“Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.”
Here’s the key point: Once you’ve worked out what you want people to know about you, you need to repeat them to as many people as possible (in genuine and authentic conversations, of course), as many times as possible. This is the only way that when any opportunities arise whether that be role, project or similar, your name will be put out there at the right time because you are front and centre of their minds.
A great place to start sharing your messaging is by going back to the people you met in the first place. You can firstly thank them for their feedback and then tell them about the reflections you have had. I promise they will be interested! Then you can position the things you want to be known for; sentences such as ‘I’ve realised that the things I love the most are X, X and X, but people don’t seem to know that about me. How can I best share this information?’ will yield excellent discussions. They may even say that now they know this about you they have a perfect next job for you already!
Summary: Reputations are currency when it comes to careers. Whether you’re happy in your current role, or searching for the next, don’t presume that people know exactly what you want them to, as humans we work mostly from what we think we’ve seen someone else do, or what we presume they enjoy. Take control of your reputation and you will find yourself with a group of true advocates and most likely, a wealth of meaningful and exciting career opportunities too.
If you need any support with your own reputation, reach out! [email protected]