12.12.2022

How Can I Improve My Reputation If It's On Shaky Ground?'

 

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Everyone has a reputation, for better or worse. One of the healthiest things you can learn is this is totally subjective. Some people may dislike you, others will like you. You can’t please everybody.

That said, it’s tough to know that you’ve soured your character through your own imperfect past actions, and sometimes, you can allow yourself to see yourself in a negative light if other people do.

Don’t worry, however, because people who have misstepped much more than you have managed to seek a way back to their best self. Moreover, others' opinions of you aren’t objective reality, just their impression based on the limited amount about you they’ve seen or heard. There’s a lesson in here about not jumping to conclusions too hastily, and always giving a second chance.

But how can you improve your reputation if it’s on shaky ground? Let’s look at some tips for that, below:

Be Honest And Transparent

One of the key ways to improve your reputation is to be honest and transparent. This means being truthful and forthright in your interactions with others, and being willing to admit your mistakes and shortcomings. By being honest and transparent, you'll be able to earn the trust and respect of others, and to build a positive reputation once more. It’s much easier to feel comfortable around someone who is actively working on their flaws and trying to make amends than it is to be around someone who thinks they can do no wrong.

Be Consistent And Reliable

Another important way to solidify a better reputation is to be consistent and reliable. This means following through on your commitments, meeting your deadlines, and upholding your standards and values. By being consistent and reliable, you'll be able to demonstrate your dependability and integrity, and to enhance your reputation. Perhaps you’ve been given a disciplinary at work for late attendance. Proving to your boss that you can get your work done on time will help them look at you in a new light.

Be Professional And Respectful

Being professional and respectful is a great way of improving both your personal and work-focused character. This means behaving in a manner that is appropriate and suitable for the situation and treating others with dignity and respect. By being professional and respectful, you'll be able to demonstrate your maturity, and enhance your reputation from there. Just take it day by day. The way you carry yourself says a lot about you, but it also helps you believe new, positive things about yourself.

Be Proactive And Helpful

Being proactive and helpful is immensely satisfying. This means taking the initiative to solve problems and address challenges, and being willing to assist others when they need help. For example, volunteering in the community or doing more housework because your partner feels you don’t put in enough effort can help turn around poor impressions. By being there when needed, you'll be able to demonstrate your leadership and teamwork skills.

Be Open-Minded And Flexible

Being open-minded and flexible helps you avoid being stuck in your ways. This means being willing to listen to others and consider different perspectives, and being adaptable and open to change. By making that effort, and truly considering another set of ideas, you'll be able to demonstrate your creativity and adaptability.

People tend to like those who listen. They doubly appreciate it if you’ve been fairly hard-headed in the past. Note that this doesn’t mean you have to start accepting every single opinion put to you by others just because you want to improve your standing, but it can help you understand others more, and what they want from you. This also helps you identify who is worth proving yourself to.

Be Positive And Optimistic

Being positive and optimistic is necessary if you hope to win people around. Don’t fake it - just try and consider the glass half full. At the very least, things could always be worse. 

Look for the good in others and in situations, and become hopeful and optimistic about the future. By being positive and optimistic, people will feel naturally drawn to you. It’s hard not to like someone who meets the challenges of life with a smile.

Be Humble And Gracious

Being humble and gracious is crucial. This means being humble and modest in your interactions with others, and being grateful and thankful for the opportunities and successes you experience. It also means understanding that your reputation needs work, and your flaws should be addressed. Humility is often something that draws people in - because if a super perfect, super cool colleague is also super self-absorbed, no one will see their virtues, just that unattractive personality trait.

Be Accountable And Responsible

Being accountable and responsible helps people trust you. Remember that trust takes weeks, months and years to build, but only moments to destroy. This means taking responsibility for your actions and their consequences and being willing to make amends when necessary. By admitting when you’ve made a mistake, being honest, or taking your duties seriously, you’re more likely to be a better part of a team, or to be looked at as a valuable person to have around. Nothing improves a reputation like that, even via past mistakes.

Be Authentic And Genuine

Being authentic and genuine helps you stay down to earth, and allows you to understand the harm you might have caused and why it was important for you to change it. Tough times like this can texture people deeply, growing roots into the ground as it were. People really do notice when you make an effort to be honest, or to talk through sensitive topics through being candid. For instance, if dealing with a parole officer, talking through your struggles instead of asking “can a felon own a gun” will help you build that positive rehabilitation. As you can see, these methods help everyone at all areas of life.

Be Open To Feedback And Learning

Finally, being open to feedback and learning is also crucial to make sure you don’t repeat the same mistakes. This might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people fail to learn essential lessons in life, and they don’t have to be bad, unintelligent people to do that. We tend to have patterns of behavior that may need to be changed, and sometimes that can be painful. When you’re open to feedback, however, you can leverage the opinions of others to help you.

With this advice, we hope you can improve your personal and professional reputation, through reconfiguring the flaws in your character and trying to pursue a worthwhile ideal. Even the effort alone will make you better so good luck!


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