Six ways to build a trusted reputation

“Glass, china, and reputation are easily crack'd, and never well mended.” Benjamin Franklin may have died in 1790, but his words still resonate today. Just look at the fall-out when the CEO and the Head of HR at Astronomer, a US data company, were caught in a clinch on the ‘kiss cam’ at a Coldplay concert. Social media spread the moment round the world in a flash. Both protagonists had resigned within days.

As a project professional, you may be unlikely to find your reputation ruined by a global social media storm; but you can still benefit immeasurably by building a trusted name. You have an army of stakeholders, internal and external, who can help you through the twists and turns of your project career. Get the right rep and they’ll go the extra mile for you, helping your projects to become more productive and efficient too.
Here are six ways to build a trusted reputation.

1. Tell your story

Doing a great job is only half the work. To build a trusted reputation, you have to talk about it too. Charlotte Otter, author of We Need New Leaders: Mastering reputation management to reshape the C-Suite, calls this “an insurance against bias”. By controlling your public presence, you're protecting against any unforeseen challenges in the future.

This is likely to mean posting on social media. But if you’re wary of self-promotion, don’t be.

“There’s an altruistic aspect to sharing that helps overcome the feeling it’s all ‘me, me, me’,” says Otter.

“For example, the LinkedIn algorithm supports connections. If you comment on someone’s post when they say interesting things, you’re helping to push their post up. Reputation comes from promoting your team’s work, supporting others and building community.”

2. Walk the walk

Be aware that any story you tell publicly has to match up to your actions. Any mismatch there will result in a ‘trust gap’ that can threaten your reputation.

“To build a trusted reputation, you obviously need to be good at your job,” says Helen Sewell, a leadership communication coach whose company, Simply Speaking, offers e-courses in reputation building. “You need to act with integrity, reliability and dependability; stick to your values; and do what you say you’ll do.”

3. Communicate brilliantly

For Sewell, trusted leaders speak clearly, authentically and openly. But that communication doesn’t just go one way. You also need to focus on others, showing genuine concern and truly listening.

“When people feel heard, they’re likely to value your input,” says Sewell. “When you’re open and thoughtful, encouraging input from others and demonstrating respect, you’ll build a culture that promotes engagement. As a result, you’ll generate respect for yourself and a trusted reputation.”

4. Own your niche

Jordan Greenaway, CEO of thought leadership agency Profile, points out that people rarely have a ‘general’ reputation; it tends to be for something in particular. He says you should define and own what’s truly distinctive about you.

“Become the go-to expert for that specific niche,” he says. “Too often, I see people try to talk about one thing one month and another thing the next. This is doomed to fail. These days, people are looking for experts rather than generalists.”

Greenaway recalls working with one CFO whose career had been long and successful, but also complex, and she needed to hone her reputation to move into a CEO role.

“We found that what made her different was that she knew how to raise capital from institutional investors to digitalise traditional industries,” says Greenaway. “At first, she felt this pigeonholed her too much. But she was appointed to a CEO role six months later.”

5. Get people on board

Sewell notes that leaders often bury important messages in wordy presentations and a torrent of slides, and then expect people to be impressed. Your reputation will flourish if you can create tangible excitement instead.

“Deliver influential suggestions that move the project in an interesting direction,” she says. “You’ll get the buy-in that counts. People will own their actions and be excited about performing.” And your reputation will get a boost because you made it all happen.

6. You don’t need to be perfect

You may feel the need to appear infallible, with a finely honed presence and profile. In fact, any messy humanity you show will only make you more relatable and boost your reputation.

Otter shares a concept she learned on a master’s degree in change management.

“Single-loop learners see a problem, throw resources at it and fix it,” she says. “Double-loop learners do that and then ask their teams how their own behaviour had helped cause the problem. It’s that preparedness not to be perfect, to be vulnerable and to act on the feedback, and that takes courage.”