What does reputation mean as a core value?
Reputation as a core value means caring what your name stands for in other people’s minds, and protecting it through trustworthy work and fair dealing over many years.
Your name, and what it brings to mind for other people, feels like something you own and have to look after. A reputation takes years to build and a careless afternoon to damage, and you’re aware of that in a way others may not be. For people with reputation as a core value, being trusted to deliver, spoken of well by people you respect, and recommended without hesitation are real sources of security and pride.
What does reputation look like in practice?
- You turn down work you can’t do well, because your name goes on it.
- You follow up after a project to check the client was genuinely happy.
- You think about how an email would read if it were forwarded to the wrong person.
- You’re careful about what you post online and who you’re seen to be associated with.
- You go out of your way to put things right when you’ve let someone down, even in a small way.
When is reputation overplayed?
When reputation matters too much, you can start living for the audience. Decisions get weighed on how they’ll look before whether they’re right, mistakes get hidden instead of owned, and a bold or unpopular stand becomes hard to take. Ironically, that caution can erode the very standing you’re protecting. A healthier relationship with reputation treats it as the by-product of good work and fair dealing. A useful test is to ask what you’d do if nobody would ever find out, and notice whether the answer changes.
Often confused with
Reputation vs Recognition
Recognition is being noticed and thanked for what you’ve done. Reputation is what people expect of you in future, and it builds even when nobody says a word.
Reputation vs Status
Status is your position relative to others. Reputation is what you’re known for, and someone of modest status can have a formidable one.
Reputation vs Honour
Honour is living by a code whether or not anyone knows. Reputation depends on how others see you, which is why the two can occasionally pull apart.
Questions to sit with
- What would you like people to say about you when you’re not in the room, and what would they actually say today?
- Which decision have you avoided recently mainly because of how it might look?
- Whose good opinion do you care about most, and why theirs?
More values in Leadership
Standing, influence and setting direction.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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