Eight Steps For Building A Great Reputation And Influencing Perceptions
Category : Careers , Leadership , Management
The following Eight fundamental practices provide a key strategy in managing perception and developing a great reputation with your friends, family and business associates. While they are listed in sequential order, as an individual you will find yourself constantly moving back and forth among the elements as you work to build your reputation and influence the perception others have of you.
1. Build Relationships:
The relationships of “all” individuals within any human endeavor, is absolutely essential for success to happen, be they: husband – wife, parent – child, teacher – student, leader – follower, or coach – player. Evidence of a “healthy relationship” is that the relationship is challenging, honest, trusting, supportive, and that all issues can be worked through successfully
2. Model The Way:
You cast a long shadow of influence; others will listen to your talk, but watch your walk. You must constantly be building in a positive manner your “perception capital” and your “reputation capital.”
3. Listen To Your Friends:
You were born with two ears and one mouth – use them accordingly. You must listen with your whole being. To listen effectively you must ignore your own needs and concentrate your attention on the person speaking.
4. Challenge Your Friends:
Challenge your friends to do things and go to places they have never been before. You can help them open up to a bigger worldview. Challenge your friends to be open to change.
5. Inspire Your Friends
Inspiring your friends most always begins with a vision. A vision is about possibilities; it’s about the future. Successful people I have interviewed or known personally have at one time or another imagined a “significant” future. A vision acts like true north on a compass. It points the way to a specific destination. Aristotle stated, “A vivid imagination (vision) compels the whole body to obey It.”
6. Enable Your Friends
Help him or her describe in their own words and their own descriptive thoughts, what it will take for them to enable their own future. You need to challenge others to truly think…so they can discover and take responsibility for their own vision of their possible future.
7. Dialogue With Your Friends:
To be meaningful and transformational, the discussions held between you and your friends must go beyond a simple conversation and enter the world of dialogue. The dialogue must involve insightful thinking about the world of work and include the non-business, social, family and personal world of your friends. People do not live in one world or another; their life is affected by the whole.
8. Value The Journey:
I once saw an advertisement that stated, “Having fun is serious business.” Being a person who is perceived to have a good reputation is serious business; however, it can and should be both enjoyable and fun. Some motivational speakers speak to the potential of living one’s dreams. When it comes to enjoying and having fun in your work and play I would speak to living one’s passion.