outfit: Buddy Love
article: written by LeeAnn Foster (Mama) of Team Foster Strategy
Many of you are interested in powerful and winning interview skills. Good for you! You are thinking and planning for your future. But, let’s take a step back. How about we look at teeing you up to present yourself in a way that you get to select who you will interview with because so many organizations want you to join their team.
Do me a favor! Take a piece of paper – any piece. Crunch it up into a paper wad. Now, straighten and flatten it out. Make it exactly like it was before you crunched it up. Impossible, isn’t it?
Now – – think of your character and reputation in relation to the piece of paper. Once you crunch them up, they will never be the same. Of course, with time, the conditions will improve should you consistently use good judgment. The amount of time this process takes can, however, set the jump start, restart, or successful continuation of your career sideways, or, in the worst-case scenarios, backwards.
So, let’s focus the next 10 minutes on Reputation Management. To be clear, your character is who you are. Your reputation is what others think about you. A huge lesson I learned from my Dad (Papaw to Laura) was that life is not fair. Quit whining and complaining about it. We will be thrown curve balls due to no fault of our own. I do want to offer coaching that could help you dodge some of those unfair, reputation damaging, curve balls.
Your reputation can impact all areas of your life, both personal and professional. Below are 10 quick tips that will assist you in managing your reputation:
1. Google yourself / evaluate yourself on social media periodically. What is recorded on-line about you? IS there anything you need to address? Take care in the future not to use profanity, post immature pictures, and make strongly opinionated and judgmental comments.
2. Consider your personal brand and goals. Always keep your dream (vision) for your life in mind and align your behavior in a way to assist you in growing forward.
3. Create accurate and professionally portrayed social media profiles and keep them updated. I cannot make many guarantees regarding your future. There is no crystal ball. But I can guarantee that potential dates, employers, customers, etc. will look you up on social media. Market yourself well.
4. Start a blog. Keep it short. Use proper grammar, punctuation, etc. Get samples of you and your work out there. When folks in your future life Google, let them find how creative and educated you are before you even meet.
5. Never argue online. Non-verbal cues are so very important. Online conversation limits effective communication. If you disagree with an individual, take it off-line. Keep the argument between the two of you and not the world wide web.
6. Fact check before taking a strong stance. Please. Fake news is causing much pain and stress in our lives. Stand firm only after verifying your statements as facts from a trusted and reliable source.
7. Address criticism when necessary. But only when necessary. Choose your battles wisely. Ask yourself, will good come from addressing this or should I let it go?
8. Set realistic goals. The Team Foster Strategy definition of integrity is simply, “Do what you say you are going to do in the best possible manner at the time you say you are going to do it.” Beware of over-promising. Doing so will cause others to lose confidence and trust in you.
9. Apologize when wrong. Future people in your life want to see an authentic, slightly vulnerable, and low ego person. You will make mistakes. You will mess up. Own your mistakes. Celebrate them. And, do your best to learn and never commit with same mistake again.
10. Take a deep breath often. Never take yourself or life too seriously. Be the first person to laugh at yourself. And, give yourself time and space. Over committing leads to stress, distress, and then, to anxiety. Each day schedule at least one hour of “Me Time”. Read, meditate, exercise, sing, play the piano – – whatever works for you to lower your heart rate and relax.
In concluding, I have a “Laura Story” for you. Most of you probably see our baby girl as a girly girl due to all the clothes, hair, make-up, etc. advice and rightly so. However, she was one of the most special athletes to attend her high school. She had 4 State Championships during her high school career, 2 track and 2 soccer. She received 8 “All-State” honors. Athletically she was/is a force to be reckoned with. I write this to make this point. From 8th grade to 10th grade, Laura wasn’t sure if she wanted to pursue sports at the college level. Her Dad and I knew that she couldn’t wait until her senior year to start “managing this process”. We asked Laura to start the college recruitment tasks her freshman and sophomore years of high school in order to be prepared if she did decide to continue sports at the collegiate level. If she had waited until her senior year, it would have been too late.
Remember this story while preparing for your career. Manage your reputation now. Your former employers care deeply about your judgment skills. They care about your emotional intelligence level. They care about how you work with others. These ten tips will help you to manage your reputation in a positive manner in order to jump start your career and life.
Find more information at teamfosterstrategy.com
