Building Reputations in Tough Organisations

Introduction

The fallacy of life in large organisations being a meritocracy is pervasive. It simply doesn't work like that. People doing great work, delivering stunning results, are essential for the success of their organisations. Yet, all too often, they get passed over for promotion. Exciting new projects get handed to other people. With a grumble or two they knuckle down and do even better work. The result they get is that the organisation becomes ever more dependent on them doing exactly what they are doing now, and so, they get stuck even more.

At the opposite extreme, you have a practice of self-promotion. People who do this at the extreme have been able to get promoted way beyond their capability — often to the detriment of long-term organisational success. They move fast and attempt to build their track-record on the backs of the former group, the hard workers trying to do a great job. However, the effectiveness of excessive self-promotion is beginning to wane because it is becoming increasingly difficult to hide their vulnerabilities.

Between the two extremes is a fertile zone of prudent reputation building, which is where this book makes its contribution. In combination, the articles you will find here will provoke your thinking and help you to find a palatable way to self-promote and build your reputation. It will not turn you into a braggart, losing friends and spoiling relationships. What it will do is show you how you can begin to make a far greater impact within your organisation, group or arena.

A core value which lies behind each of these articles is helping the reader to think things through and make clear decisions about the action they are going to take appropriate to themselves and their situation. These articles will help you to find practical ways to build your reputation.

This book is a collection of independent articles. The core articles were written as part of an email subscription in spring of 2014 around the six key areas you need to consider when building a reputation. These are outlined in the first article. To this, has been added a great many other articles which deepen understanding and stimulate more thinking around the topic of each key idea. Consequently, this is a book which can be digested in small chunks, which will fit nicely into a busy schedule.

Ultimately, its purpose is to help you to gain fair recognition, build your career and deliver exceptional value to your stakeholders, be they at work or home.

Note: As you work through the book you will encounter extra links which I have added where appropriate. Some of these are part of the premium area of the Influence Blog. As a reader of this book you can purchase premium access at a reduced rate by using a discount code of reputation2014 when going through the checkout. The link below will take you straight to the instructions.

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Article 1: How to Build Your Reputation

If you have a reputation for being a tough negotiator, you will influence the other party before you even meet them. Your reputation will precede you. They will be expecting a hard time, they will be working harder on their strategy and even harder on their alternatives. They may even be expecting to get a poor deal, and this may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

They will certainly be more stressed, and their performance might nosedive the moment they meet your cool, expressionless face — or worse, that charismatic (or enigmatic) smile. Yes, your reputation may influence them to bring their heavy hitters to meet you head on. Brilliant, another opportunity to strut your stuff and boost your credibility.

At the other end of the spectrum, a reputation for being kind, considerate and trustworthy will bring many people knocking on your door. Your intelligence about what is really going on in the organisation will give you significant advantages not available to the hard-nosed people around you. You don’t have to agree with everyone, but your approachability will keep you in the loop. More importantly, it will build stronger relationships and loyalty across the organisation.

How to Build and Strengthen Your Reputation

If you want to take this seriously, you need to consider six areas as you plan action to make it happen.

Culture: Make sure you know the culture of the organisation you want to establish and build your reputation in. This awareness will help you see what will work and what won’t. Unless the reputation you build will be respected and valued, you are probably wasting your time.

Distinction: For a reputation to be really useful, it has to be distinctive in the environment where it has to do its work. Don’t settle for being boring and professional; find a way to really stand out from the crowd. This also means you need to be unambiguous in what you want others to expect of you.

Substance: There is always a gap between perception and reality, but you need to make sure that it is small. If you cannot live up to your reputation, you are heading for a fall. Always make sure to focus on the performance which backs up your reputational aspirations.

Visibility: You have to ensure that people notice you. Let people see you perform, and keep your focus on the attributes and behaviours which will maximise the chance that they will recognise what you want them to.

Connections: Reputations don’t work very well in isolation, they need a network of supporters, fans and advocates to spread the word. Getting others to sing your praises is far more effective than you trying to do it yourself. It is also good to associate with others who have strong reputations which complement your own.

Tenacity: Consistent and relentless focus on the performance which leads to the desired reputation is essential. Trying to be one thing today and another thing tomorrow will confuse people and probably make them think you are unreliable (not a good reputation to have). So, decide now and then year by year continue to climb.

As you reflect on the topics above, you should quickly decide on the action you can begin to take in order to strengthen your reputation. An early action might be simply to brainstorm about what you actually want people to think about you. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you decide to do something towards building within your capability, the power of reputation.

Article 2: Tough Challenges at Work

Okay, so you work in a tough organisation — but what exactly does that mean?

Organisations vary considerably in their culture, and what is tough to one may be easy to another. For instance, I recall a headmaster bemoaning how hard and tough it was in his school. After spending a little time there, to me it seemed to pale by comparison to the corporate culture I was more familiar with. And that in turn was a cosy place compared to some city firms. The point is that it is less about the comparisons between organisations and more about how you are performing in your own organisation.

The questions below are designed to get you thinking. With all of them, I strongly recommend you make notes. These will be useful in helping you to clarify your views, and also, a reminder when you are asked to refer back to them later in this book.

What exactly makes you think you work in a tough organisation? Try to make a list of ten (or more) specific things which make it a tough place to work.

Why might others think it is a cosy place to work? This isn’t about trying to deny it’s tough, just to help you get a sense of proportion. See if you can make a list of these things too.

What problems, challenges or issues does this culture create for you personally?

What about the opportunities?

I’d also like you to do a little research among your most trusted colleagues. Try to figure out how they are feeling about the way things are in your organisation. What answers would they give to the questions above? Sometimes, I find people toil in their own world unaware that others are feeling the same; thinking instead that everyone else is okay. Opening up and sharing with others can immediately help you to feel more comfortable and also begin learning together.

Here’s one final question, and I really want you to write down as long a list as possible in your notebook:

When you have established a really strong reputation in your organisation, what benefits will you derive personally?

In Purposes, Targets and Role Models (Article 6), I will help you to explore the way the culture views performance, positive and negative. This will help you to gain a sense of what may or may not work for you.

Meantime, the articles which follow will enable you to explore what is going on around you from a variety of perspectives and stimulate you to think more objectively about the environment you are experiencing. They will also help you to reassess your own performance and contribution to the tough place you work in.

Article 3: Are You a Bully? Are You Sure You Aren’t?

Hmmm, what are you doing here ― reading this?

If you’ve been attracted by the title of this, there is a fair chance you may have a nagging feeling that something may be wrong. I’d also guess that you are generally a caring sort of person too, full of great intentions ― but perhaps, shall we say, a little on the determined side? Yes, I know, you’re misunderstood.

To be frank, if you are a bully and don’t care, you probably will not have got this far. At the opposite end of the scale, if you are here because you are being bullied, make sure and read to the end.

The problem for ambitious people is that there is often a fine line between driving for results and being regarded as a bully. The line is also unclear and open to interpretation. Nobody deserves to be bullied and it is the responsibility of well-meaning determined individuals to make sure they do not cross that line as they march up the corporate ladder.

So, assuming you are here with an open mind and wish to explore this sensitive topic in a constructive and very personal way (just between the two of us), here are some behaviours that are often associated with bullies:

Interrupting and talking over other people.

Demanding things at short notice.

Forcing people to do things that they don’t want to do.

Closing down meetings and conversations before others have had their say.

Dodging questions and giving political answers.

Not listening to others’ ideas and suggestions.

Publically favouring or disfavouring individuals.

Being intolerant of fools.

Telling lies and being dishonest for convenience.

Working on a need to know basis, holding back information until absolutely necessary.

Reacting aggressively when challenged.

Carelessly (or rudely) dismissing ideas.

Taking undue credit for work done by others.

Speaking before thinking and upsetting people.

Asking several people to do the same thing independently.

Allowing others to take unfair responsibility for problems.

Cancelling meetings at short notice.

Demonstrating prejudice when conversing with people.

Telling people what to do and how to do it.

Being tactile on the borders of appropriateness.

Regularly changing your mind, especially without telling people.

Using negative office politics to get things done.

Publically criticising poor performance.

Giving helpful(!) feedback about the person rather than the performance.

Closely monitoring work ― micromanaging.

Using inappropriate humour.

Taking feedback personally and being defensive.

Using emotional blackmail to get your way. In fact, using any sort of blackmail!

Knowing all the answers.

Asking people to do things without giving them a reason why.

Making fun at the expense of juniors.

If you have persevered this far, there may be a little bit of denial going on right now in your mind. Yes, lots of the behaviours above are legitimate (or expedient) ways of getting things done. No, not all of them are bullying behaviours. Isolated occurrences do not mean you are a bully.

However, what you need to take care with is the overall pattern of your behaviour. If you are admitting (at least to yourself) that you are doing quite a few of them, and doing them quite often, you will need to take some action.

Here’s a little process to get you started:

A. Run through the list and score each one on how strongly or frequently you favour the behaviour. Perhaps use a scale of 1-5.

B. Pick out 3-4 high scoring behaviours which are most likely to cause you a problem.

C. For each one:

Why do you do it?

What do you gain?

How could you replace the behaviour without loss?

What could you add to the behaviour to reduce the risk?

If you do change, how might you benefit?

Do you want to change the behaviour?

D. Decide on one of these which you can really commit to changing. Consider:

What could get in the way of change?

Do you need help to change?

Who can support you in changing?

How will you know you are being successful?

E. Start implementing now and review again in a month.

Organisations of all types desperately need people who are assertive and can drive through results. What none of them need is a bullied, harassed and disengaged workforce. What else can you do today to move forward in the right direction?

Extra links:

StopBullying.Gov — Get Help Now.

Bullying UK.

National Centre Against Bullying.

Workplace Bullying Institute 2014 US Bullying Survey.

Article 4: Are You an Ethical Influencer? 21 Questions

It is very rare that I meet an unethical influencer ― thankfully! However, there are many I meet who I wonder about. They operate on the fringes of integrity, in my view. Trouble is, as I have explained elsewhere, integrity means different things to different people. Right and wrong quickly descend into it depends. And this is a growing dilemma given the global diversity so many of us now live with.

When I am training people about influence, perhaps conveniently, I often dodge the ethical question. Partly due to the wide divergence of opinion, but mainly because I want people to take responsibility for their own actions ― at the end of the day, people on my training workshops have to live with their own conscience.

Yet, I do