Building a personal and professional reputation intentionally

Here is a truth about business and life that took me a while to fully appreciate: your reputation usually gets there before you do.

Before you walk into the meeting, someone may already have an opinion about you. Before you make the sales call, a potential customer may have heard your name. Before you introduce yourself at a networking event, someone may have already seen your LinkedIn profile, visited your website, or talked with someone who knows you.

Your reputation is working when you are not.

The question is: What is it saying?

Your reputation is not built by one big moment. It is built through hundreds of little moments. It is how you return a phone call. Whether you keep your word. How you treat someone who cannot do anything for you. Whether you show up prepared. How you respond when something goes wrong.

In other words, reputation is not just about what people think about you. It is about the pattern of experiences people have with you.

And here is the good news: you get to influence that pattern.

Personal Development Tip: Decide What You Want to Be Known For

Take five minutes and finish this sentence:

“I want people to know me as someone who…”

Maybe it is someone who follows through. Someone who listens. Someone who makes connections. Someone who tells the truth. Someone who brings energy into a room.

Pick three qualities.

Then ask yourself: Am I demonstrating those qualities consistently?

There is a big difference between wanting to be known as dependable and actually being dependable. Your reputation is created in that gap.

Business Development Tip: Make Your Reputation Part of Your Strategy

Businesses have reputations, too.

If you want more referrals, ask yourself what you want customers and business partners to say about you when you’re not there.

“Give them a call. They will take care of you.”

“She always follows up.”

“They really listen.”

“He knows everybody.”

Those sentences are more powerful than almost any advertisement.

So look at your customer experience, communication, follow-up, online presence, and networking habits. Are they all telling the same story about who you are and what you value?

Because consistency builds trust—and trust builds business.

One of the most valuable things you can do in business is make it easy for people to confidently recommend you.

The Jimmy Tip

Do not leave your reputation to chance.

Think about the three words you want associated with your name. Then spend the next 30 days intentionally proving them through your actions.

And remember, you do not have to be perfect. You just need to be consistent.

Your reputation is being written every day—by the way you show up, follow up, speak up, and treat people.

So here is your challenge: Make sure the reputation walking into the room ahead of you is the reputation you want waiting for you when you arrive.

And if you are part of the Des Moines business community, start today. Introduce yourself to someone new, follow up with someone you have been meaning to contact, or simply do something that reinforces what you want to be known for.

Build the reputation before you need it. Because when opportunity knocks, it’s helpful when your reputation answers the door.

Cheers,

Jimmy