A leader’s reputation is everything. Without a good reputation, no one will listen to you, no one will willingly follow you, no one will give you a stretch assignment, and no one will promote you. Understandably, leaders care a lot about their reputations.  

Leaders can do things that completely destroy their reputations. Those make for interesting headlines, and they keep public relations teams very occupied. This article isn’t about that. I’m writing about the moderate issues that can be repaired. They may feel quite severe at the time, but in the long run, much can be overcome.

No one is perfect

There are no perfect leaders. Everyone has shortcomings. Everyone makes mistakes. I often talk to leaders who feel like they have been cast in a negative light and are unsure what to do about it. It’s a complex problem with a lot of variables.

There are a few principles that apply to most scenarios:

1. Be humble. Admit when you are wrong, take accountability for it, and do what you can to make up for it.
2. Listen. We all have blind spots on self-awareness. If you have an opportunity to learn more about yourself through the experience of others, take it. Then reflect on it.
3. Be resilient. Don’t let setbacks crush you. You still have a job to do. Pull yourself up and continue leading.

Those three principles alone will help you overcome most minor reputation setbacks, but some others may persist.

Grudges

I believe in second chances. I believe in grace and do-overs. However, some organizational cultures don’t. People will bring up the time you messed up 5 years ago. I can’t defend that behavior. It’s downright toxic. However, there is something you can do about it: People remember your negative impacts because there aren’t enough positive impacts to counteract them.

In other words, if you did something really negative a long time ago, and pretty much flew under the radar since then, that’s still your reputation. However, if you did something negative a long time ago and then followed that up with consistently awesome and noteworthy performance, then people will forget the negative.

You have to give people a compelling reason to talk about you in a positive light.

Mismatched expectations

Sometimes you can get a negative reputation for being bad at something you have no intention of ever being good at. I think it’s important to recognize that no one is the complete package. We all have gaps. Only as a team can we be well-rounded.

As a leader, I try to build up people’s strengths rather than beat them over the head with their weaknesses. As an individual professional, I try to navigate my career so that I am placed in roles that capitalize on my strengths and don’t rely too heavily on my shortcomings.

If you find yourself in a situation where your reputation is suffering because people want you to be someone different, I suggest doing the introspective work to understand what you are good at, what drives your passion, and then stick to it. Don’t get distracted by others’ expectations that aren’t congruent. Most leaders want to please others, however, failing to address the mismatch could make you very stressed and unhappy over time.

Mismatched values

This is the hardest to deal with. What if you have a bad reputation because you are unwilling to compromise your values to get the job done? What if you have a bad reputation because you hold people accountable to behavioral standards? If you work in an environment where leaders above you constantly look the other way so the ends justify the means, what do you do?

I think there are three possible answers here:

1. Change the culture. This is possible, but it’s very hard and will take a long time. You can always change the culture of the organization you lead but changing the one you are in is harder.
2. Find a new subculture. Companies that are big enough have a dominant overall culture, but many subcultures within. Find a leadership subculture where you will thrive and go there.
3. Find a new company. Sometimes this is necessary. At one point in my career, I realized that I couldn’t be the leader that I wanted to be because the leadership behaviors I wanted to develop weren’t going to be rewarded. I found myself a new company. That’s risky because the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. However, it worked out well for me.

I hope this analysis helps you break down the problem. While these are all valid angles to consider, a single reputational issue may be complicated by multiple dimensions. You could have mismatched expectations, multiplied by a grudge, and compounded by your lack of self-awareness. So rather than just focus on one area, analyze your situation from all of the possible dimensions.

I’ll end this by emphasizing a very important point. I believe in second chances. I believe you can rebuild a reputation and restore trust. If you ever want to go deeper on this topic, I recommend a lengthy, but comprehensive look at this issue: Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything by Stephen M. R. Covey.

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