How to rescue your reputation

Posted by Sarah Hobbs

It happens to the best of us. Either because we had a bad day and slipped up, or because we have weaknesses as well as strengths, we have a nagging feeling that we’ve failed to establish a shining reputation with an individual or group of people. Ignoring the situation is not good for the career! So what can you do?

It’s important to be realistic and ask yourself if the situation is fixable.

1. Is this loss of reputation due to a weakness that’s part of your personal makeup? If it is, it may that you are in the wrong line of work – in a job where you can’t use your strengths and your weaknesses mean it’s hard for you to succeed. In this case, you may need a change of direction, rather than the dispiriting process of trying to be someone you are not.


2. Is it possible to rebuild your reputation in the company you’re currently working for, or has the situation developed to such a point that realistically you won’t be able to change people’s minds?

Assuming you feel you can tackle the cause and that it’s possible to rescue your reputation, here are 8 suggestions that may help to undo any damage that’s been done:

1. Understand what the problem is. You may find it difficult to face up to the truth, but don’t give in to the temptation to hide from things that are contributing to your negative reputation. If you’re going to rescue your reputation you have to take, and allow others to give, a very honest view of yourself. Consider asking for 360-degree feedback to help you understand how others see you. The good news is that if you let others tell you what you’ve done wrong, and receive this well, they will set the matter to one side. If you don’t let them tell YOU, they are likely to relieve their frustration by telling others!


2. Acknowledge that you’ll have to prove yourself. Depending on the severity of the damage to your reputation, not everyone will be convinced by you saying you want to repair it. You may find that quite challenging. But the truth is that if you’re serious about repairing your reputation you’ll need to accept that it will take some time to completely put things right.


3. Apologise where it’s right to do so. During the course of gaining your negative reputation you may have offended or upset some people. Ask yourself if there is anyone you need to repair relationships with, and take the needed steps to do so.


4. Gain some advocates. Don’t start out by telling people that you’re going to change, it’s almost always best to let them see this for themselves. However, letting a few key people know you’re working on rehabilitating your reputation can be really helpful in keeping on track and gaining feedback, as well as gaining a few allies who can talk you up in other parts of the organisation. Whilst each case is different, consider starting with your manager, as it is in their interest that every member of their team has a really positive reputation.


5. Start doing what was wrong differently, and consistently. People need to see that you’ve changed your behaviour, and that you are doing things differently. Beware slipping back into your previous behaviour on even one occasion. If you make one false move, there is a danger that people will think you’ve not really changed. They’ll keep waiting for you to slip again, and it will take much longer to rebuild their trust.


6. Be patient. Often a negative reputation is built over a very long period of time. Even though you may be able to pinpoint one event that harmed your reputation, often part of the problem is that there’s a long chain of things you’ve been doing that is part of the problem. Don’t give up too quickly if you don’t see a rapid change in how people respond to you – in the same way it’s taken time to build up a negative reputation, it’ll take time to reverse people’s perception.


7. Don’t overdo it. There can sometimes be a temptation to go all out in a different direction to the way you’ve been behaving. Whilst you have the best intentions, people may wrongly see this as fakery. For example, if you’ve been known as “Mr Grumpy” and suddenly you become endlessly cheerful, don’t be surprised if people assume you are being sarcastic! Just like creating 4 or 5 radical New Year’s Resolutions, going over the top is very hard to sustain. Make small changes that you know you can sustain, and then once they have become a new habit, build additional changes into your approach.

TAKE AWAY
We all unwittingly do damage to our own reputations. Knowing how to tactfully and carefully repair any damage is an invaluable skill to develop.