Discussion on:

10 ways to destroy your reputation

are huge blows to the rep of an individual. If you think about it, all three are related too. If you commit 8, then (depending on how 8 is executed) you're a hypocrite *and* a liar. For example, if in one group of people Bob praises Apple, then with the next group of people bashes Apple and shows someone why the DROID bionic (Bob's phone) is superior to an iPhone, then goes to the other group praising Apple; pulls out his bionic and laments how it will never be as good as the iphone, is Bob not a hypocrite and a liar? *granted, that was quite the simplistic example and possibly a major run-on sentence, but hey it was what came to mind first*

Though to be fair it was at the Bosses direction and on his insistence.

I also use to say that he knew what he was doing which was so obviously incorrect that whenever I said it everyone laughed.

#7 is a bit harder though from my personal experience I don't have any problem or see it as Hard to admit when I've screwed up it's a fact of life and I'm human after all. Though others insist that I'm perfect it's not something that I've ever said or anything I've ever believed in.

The fighting bit when you get blamed for others is some what harder as it all depends on what's happened. The biggest problems I used to run into where Salespeople selling incompatible Hardware and then insisting that I make it work like they said it would. Of course the salespeople where only selling what they had excess stock of and where not the slightest bit interested in selling what the customer required so I took steps to prevent this happening again by organizing the required hardware and then putting it through as a sale for the sales people to fight over for the commission.

The rest is straight forward or what should be Common Sense which unfortunately is very uncommon and lacks any form of sense.

Col

I think those individuals that really need this advice are those that don't really think they're doing anything wrong in the first place. Thus they are the least likely to heed this advice.

Most of the bad things happening when you do those things often happen after a long while. If you lie, sooner or later...probably the latter, you're gonna get caught and then your reputation will start going down.

So, the basic principle is to be honnest with others, of course, but also with yourself. It's usually tough because you see all those people during your career escaping from difficult situations by cheating or using shortcuts while you run the whole marathon but, with time, people will reckognize that. That's when it starts to pay and I gotta be honnest, when it starts paying off and you hear about people who are now in trouble because they cheated and go caught... (I'm sorry to be human but) it makes the victory all the sweeter.

But, remember, only in the long run...

If you're a politician, you can do all 10 and nothing happens.

Gossip can sometimes ruin the reputation of those that your gossiping about. Most of the time gossip is skewed, misunderstood truths, or outright lies. If you're the starting point of slander or gossip, people take that very seriously, then your name will be on the bad reputation list.
Swearing when the situation is proper, whatever, I still wouldn't even then, but using vulgar language isn't a right course of action in an office setting, especially when your talking with a business client. Clean speech will always generate respect.

What constitutes "swearing" or "bad words" or "incivility" varies from place to place, individual to individual. What one person considers an unforgiveable word use is perfectly acceptable local parlance to others. I've even seen the same person use what I consider to be extremely foul language in one context and then in another context that same person condemned someone else for what I consider to be a mild and appropriate exclamation under the circumstances. I've seen people in the act of committing crimes get all huffy because someone else used what they considered to be a "bad word" after several attempts to get the recidivist criminal to stop. I knew one fellow who was adept at making humorously shocking statements without using any of the words those present would consider "bad".

One instance that comes to mind is one of those web sites that purports to "debate the issues of the day in a non-partisan, civil way" which was totally disgusting. Those on one side were lying and misrepresenting the statements of the other all over the place, and blocking access to them to correct or challenge those slanders, regardless of the words and terms used.

No, "clean speech" does not always generate respect. These days, it usually generates suspicion.

(ref: The Peter Principle) How about 12. Write obvious lists.

Its a rare company event that I don't see someone in power. Often seems to help their career, but then I am in sales.

Get sued. It's like 'Crime', but worse. Everyone gets to ponder the particulars.

Were these supposed to be in order of risk? If so, #3 & #5 should top the list; everything else is comparatively low risk to those.

It should be something like 10 Things That if You Do Them Poorly Can be Damaging, or something to that effect. Because if you're adept at all of the above the sky is the limit!

Further yet ruijorgemartins:
In reality politicians do it all the time, and get away with it.

"I even stay (mostly) away from politics on Twitter "

Excellent! Your government has worked hard for many decades to promote a culture where the discussion of politics and anything government or civics related is as taboo as possible no matter whether you are at work or at church or even in a social gathering. Before the great society citizens were far too engaged in discussing what their government was doing. That in turn made it very difficult for those of us who are in politics for the power to do as we please without fear of consequence or public backlash. Thanks to this mindset of Politics is a big No-No no matter where or who has helped us build the Federal Government into the monster it is.

So thank you Scott Lowe and Joe Public for helping keep alive the fear of discussing anything government/politics/civic related. With your continued support those of us in power will have everything like we want in just a few short more years.


While the above is sarcasm used to make a point it is none-the-less a valid point. The fear of discussing politics is not normal. Our grandparents and their parents were far more informed of what government was doing during their day then we are today despite the fact that they didnt even have TV yet. They were not afraid to discuss politics in their day. This politics is taboo is something that was encouraged and pushed into society in order to discourage the masses from being informed about their government and its actions. And if you dont believe me just look at how many people, possibly the author of this article included, are just now realizing that our Federal government has spent our childrens childrens grandchildrens future by borrowing us into debt slavery at a national level. This did not happen in just the last year or two but has been slowly increasing over the decades.

Its time to stop acting like politics is some form of high contagious disease.

"Don???t choose your battles"

I've always liked Thomas Jefferson's comment to the effect that one should stand firm on matters of principle but be extremely flexible on matters of taste.

De gustibus non disputandem.

What's most difficult to always keep in mind is that every individual has different incentives. What appears to be a totally insane decision based on the mutually accepted facts usually turns out to be a difference in the incentive profiles in each person's awareness. Of course, that awareness is always subjective and one person will totally over-look concerns that affect him, which to someone else may seem obvious.

Reputation is in other people's head, it is something they give you and you have no control over that, I learnt that a long time ago. Chasing good reputation is a waste of time. What you are listing in your article is about integrity, you mix behaviors with character. Character are the things you do or do not do when nobody is watching you.

There is a distinct difference that I think we need to keep in mind. Some of the items in your list are about leadership and integrity. Conviction in adversity. Professional behavior, respect and trust. Those are elements we have control over.

But we have no control over what other people think of us, talk about, gossip about or project on us because the majority of reputation is based on who they are, not what we do or don't do. Remember also that there are cultural differences.

Several years ago I worked in an organisation where I had to do a health check on a project and then put it back on the rails. This came with a level of conflict between myself and some of the client's resources who felt very threatened by my presence. When the project was delivered, there were very different views from people in the same team. Some thought I was a bitch on wheels even though I had no "battles" with them and limited contact, but others thought the sun shone out of my backside even though we had fierce and healthy debates. My behavior was the same for both sides of the observers, so it was up to their frame of reference to decide wether I was friend or foe.

I agree with paulfx1 - the title of the topic is misleading. Because even if you do all of the items in the list right or rightish, your reputation can still be mush. Particularly if you are a woman or if you operate in different countries.

And remember - people will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

what is somehow innate in a person will subsequently result in some of the items showing up ! I think what is inside our hearts and minds will eventually show and become a public knowledge - cant fake it !

One good way to destroy your reputation is to act without integrity. A reputation can be good or bad, integrity is the difference between two.

Maybe I'm a bit too European here, but the list is very politically correct... Don't discuss politics or religion? Don't get drunk? Stop kidding yourselves - nothing will establish a strong reputation as much as getting drunk the night before (without doing massive damage that is) and yet performing a great job! And if you like bland people (in certain bigger companies they do tend to get promoted more easily), then don't express yourself on possibly polemic issues, but the basics of your reputation lay in your performance, capacities and behaviour, not in your opinion, gossip and/or hearsay. Be strong, be yourself.

The key is knowing when to shut up and listen to the other person instead of trying to beat them into submission to your point of view.

The best way is to reflectively listen to the other person until you understand exactly what they are saying. Then get them to explain why they hold that point of view. Once you understand their foundations, you can work on changing them one part at a time.

Of course there is the "danger" you might find that your own position is the one that needs to change.

Aside from the point of social media, it is not very likely your reputation will extend beyond your current job position. Obviously criminal actvity can also extend beyond that, but in this age of litigation, most former employers will only acknowledge dates of employment. It's also not likely someone is going to use personal/professional references that are going to share anything other than a glowing reputation.

In a way, social media is more of an unbiased view. It is also a topic of debate, whether companies should be allowed to harvest information from it about both current and potential employees/contractors.

Integrity was mentioned, and I believe it will show through both good and bad reputations.

Seems like this is a guide to surviving a low level job. You can do the best job possible, and if the managers don't like your tone, or if you "contradict" them, then you are persona non grata. Try discussing anything with some people, and the small minds will say "lets not go there", and if it gets back to managers, the response is usually "don't ask so many questions" ( even if the other people start the chat) or basically, don't talk.And, if you don't like the local parlance, then don't dare use your own version of english, even if their expressions have some bent twist in your own version of english.
Most of this guide is a survival paper for people who are surrounded by small minded people who really don't want to see your perspective, but definitely want you to see their perspective. Adds a dash of spice if your supervisor is a mentally deranged individual.

I believe is Choose your battles. The content is to carefully choose which battle to fight which to let go.