Why Personal Reputation Is Important

If you are here, you probably know exactly why reputation is such a big deal in 2019.

When most people hear the term personal reputation management, the first thing they think of might be a politician embroiled in a controversial story or they might think of a celebrity whose reputation is being picked apart by tabloids and  blurry long-distance photographs from snooping Journalists.

But in truth, everyone has a reputation, be it big or small. And each person’s reputation matters in his or her sphere of influence, no matter how vast or minuscule that sphere may be. Our world runs on the energy of social interaction and the medium of social media networks. Because of this, the image of an individual has reached a scale that no other generation has had to grapple with.

Today, reputation issues can linger forever in the electronic platforms, can explode virally to an audience of millions, and can plunge someone from public applause to public approbation in the space of a few of hours.

It is not just celebrities who need personal reputation management. Everyone, to some degree or another, needs to pay attention to the management and maintenance of their online brand. A personal reputation can mean the difference between securing a job or being blacklisted by corporate recruiters.

Here are some of those benefits.

• You define your life. Personal reputation management is a lot like creating a business brand. What’s your “product,” or what do you want to be recognized for? Who is your “target customer,” or,what kind of people do you want to be surrounded by? Although most contemporary cultures continue to be vexed by systemic injustice and broken economic or political structures, you nonetheless possess the tools to define your life in a way that you deem appropriate and suitable. Just like you get to define your personal style — combed hair, nice smell, fashionable attire — you also get to define your personal brand and reputation.
• Success begets success. Once people perceive you in a certain way, then reality takes the form of those perceptions. This isn’t voodoo. It’s science. For example, if you amble into a local bank looking like a tramp and asking for a business loan, you may not get a loan, no matter how many of the right boxes you tick on your application.

  If, by contrast, you stroll confidently in wearing a tailored suit, sporting a fresh haircut, and manifesting an air of absolute self-possession, you might get the loan even if your application doesn’t score 100%.

• Security. When you manage your personal reputation, your reputation takes care of you. A reputation gives you a job, a partner, friends, a social safety net, financial means — virtually everything that most people consider to be marks of success. Once this happens, you enter an arena of social and financial safety.
• Upward mobility. An outstanding reputation puts you in touch with the people and places that are closed off to those who have no reputation or who have a negative reputation. Through a great reputation, you gain social access to people who have power, influence, and more.

Your reputation is your brand, whether that is your business or you personally. So regardless of what you are trying to accomplish in life, if your reputation is poor, you are going to have a hard, long road to navigate to your goals.