How To Effectively Harness Your Reputation Management

Reputation Management Changes Everything

If you’re the kind of person that is worried about what people are saying about you, particularly if it’s not good, then why not change the way they think.  With a little reputation management, you can create the image that you want to project.

I was thinking this morning about this song that has been in my head.  I don’t even know where it came from but I know you know the song:  It’s yo thang, it’s yo thang.  Do what you wanna do.  I can’t tell you, who to sock it to.

Yeah, so I want to talk about doing your “thang” as it relates to a comfort zone and how being in a comfort zone prevents you from doing that very thing. The reason it prevents you from doing  that very thing is because you are concerned about what somebody might say about you.  It dawned on me that if you’re worried about what somebody might say about you, what do you think they’re going to say about you?

Obviously, it’s going to be something bad, but you have more control over that than you think you have because you can control, to some degree, what people say about you. The question then becomes, not what do you think they are going to say about you, but rather what do you want them to say about you? Okay?  You decide what you want people to say about you then you make that happen.

Reputation Management

In Alabama, our governor is in hot water because he allegedly had a relationship with this woman while he was a married man and the woman was married as well.  So what’s happening?  What he is doing right now is called reputation management.  Admittedly, he’s not doing a very good job of it, but he’s making an effort.

Take These Steps To Harness Your Reputation

• Decided what you’d like to be known for
• Structure your image and actions to reflect #1
• Become visible doing things that reflect the image that you want to project
• Network with people that share common interests and goals
• Let everyone know what you do and how you do it
• Begin writing about your area of expertise (book, blog, guest writer, etc)

Bottomline is that if you are going to be concerned about what people say about you, then you set it up so that people say about you what you want them to say about you.  Because what?  It’s yo thang, it’s yo thang.  Do what you wanna do. Yeah.