personal reputation

 The Power of Reputation.  Chris Komisarjevsky’s new book, The Power of Reputation: Strengthen the Asset that Will Make or Break Your Career, is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding how to steer their reputation into a career worth having.  Chris provides practical, easy-to-apply advice, techniques, tips and best practices on how to build that reputation you always wished you had but maybe never planned with very much care. He covers all the many elements that make up an enduring personal and professional reputation (they are the same, you know) such as values, character, behavior, trust and communications.   I regard myself as an insider when it comes to Chris’ new book.  Chris was CEO of Burson-Marsteller when he hired me and throughout my time there, encouraged me to build the bank of reputation research we launched as a firm.  He also served as a role model for how CEOs should lead their organizations and build a best place to work.    There are so many great examples that I remember from his leadership and I got to experience up-close how the character of the person at the top sets the tone for the entire organization. There is no denying the inextricable link between the two. Perhaps for that reason, I was particularly drawn to the chapter on Values. Chris provides a list of values that can guide your career path. It seems that everyone should be given that list as an exercise when they start a new job so they can be regularly reminded to follow it. The Power of Reputation also provides terrific real-life examples and anecdotes from a wide variety of CEOs who have been faced with reputational issues and had to decide what was most important to the organization and its members.   Overall, if you are looking to better understand what you stand for, what your company should stand for, and how to build trust and an enduring career, this is a great book to read.    

I was glad to find these facts about online reputation management companies this week. I've often wondered about the market for them as they have boomed in recent years.  An estimate for spending on online reputation is provided by BIA/Kelsey -- $1.6 billion for 2011 and an expectation of $5 billion by 2015. This is for small and medium-sized businesses.  My sense is that this is the market because one or two negative customer mentions or reviews can really wipe dollars off that precious bottom line. Fixing your online reputation is not easy. If it were, everyone would have a pristine reputation. In fact, it takes years for a reputation to build or recover -- just think about BP and how painful that recovery has been although they are slowly making progress. Even when hiring an online reputation management company, it takes at least a year to see change from what I have been told. And that might be optimistic.  In fact, I went to check out an uncomplimentary mention about an executive I know that first appeared at least four years ago. It was still there although it had a few more positive mentions ahead of it. But four years is a long time to correct something online. This executive did not hire an online reputation management and just took her chances. A quote that surfaced in the article where I found this spending estimate caught my attention, "If the Internet is the Wild West, then online reputation management is Dodge City." Whoah.

Is it me or is there an article every single day about how to manage your online reputation, particularly if you are a job seeker. I know that I get Google Alerts as to when anything surfaces on online reputation but I don't think I can read any more. For instance, today I got another one and I took a deep sigh. How many times do people have to read that they should do a Google or Bing search of their name to see how they are being talked about online? How many times do people have to read about buying their name on a domain site or be positive online and off? Oh well. I think I figured out the answer. "A lot." Obviously people do not follow these simple rules because otherwise there wouldn't be a demand for this information. And from my experience with job seekers, many people do not think twice about how often employers check out candidates online (I think that 70% of employers check online).   So I get it. But I can still ask the question. I guess it is just me.

Chris Perry (@cperry248) who is our digital communications president, wrote this really good post on Forbes about social CEOs. I am taking the liberty of repeating his 5 must-dos for CEOs wanting to get social or even considering it. I would probably add one more and that is to find yourself a buddy who can read your Tweets as a sounding board when you first get started. I think that that second opinions can save oneself from having a red face and worth the try until you feel comfortable enough to try it alone.  And maybe it's worth having a buddy just as good practice when it comes to Tweeting or even Facebook.  They might not be good golfing buddies but hey, this is a new age. Take his advice. It is seriously good. Here they are.....straight from Chris. Realize you shine bright in social mediums. Social media participation is a public appearance where everything is on the record. Assume that comments will be picked up by the press as well as examined closely by your customers, staff and others watching your company. Speak and act accordingly. Recognize your role as Chief Narrator. Social platforms like Twitter aren’t a sounding board for a CEOs innermost thoughts; they’re an extension of other modes of communication you use as the lead executive of your organization. There’s great opportunity to share thoughts on your company or industry issues that get amplified through networks that reach employees, investors, customers and the press. As with existing communications efforts have a plan in place as you engage. Anticipate social remarks being a part of a permanent public record. Avoid posting or tweeting on topics that you would never discuss aloud in a public forum. Badmouthing competitors, going too deep into personal affairs or speaking about divisive issues is not the way to go. Don’t be gun-shy when engaging online, but anticipate that what you say will generate the same reaction as if it were published in the press. Don’t court controversy if you can’t take the heat. Opinions on relevant industry issues and current events that affect your business are fine. But steer clear of statements that might be controversial – unless you want to be at the center of the storm. Off the cuff remarks can have a massive ripple effect to be managed your staff, PR team and others tied to the issue after the fact. Pause for a moment in private before you go public. Despite the inherent risks embrace your humanity. Words of caution don’t mean you can’t let your personality shine through. In fact, this is one of the best ways CEOs can engage on a deeper, more human level with stakeholders. Personal insights into what it’s like to lead an organization show authenticity. Just remember that there are limits to what’s appropriate to share.   Any leader looking to engage through social media can harness the power, or suffer from the peril, of the medium. While it provides a forum for new interaction, new communications policies have similarities to traditional media guidelines. Keeping that in mind will help you participate in ways that adds value, not headaches, to your organization.    

                    The other day I received this note in my email inbox. It is a handsome note from CEO Millard (Mickey) Drexler at J.Crew thanking me for my purchases over the past year. The text is below. It is beautifully designed. But I wanted to point it out because it certainly is a nice touch to add to J. Crew's reputation....thanking customers. I am not a big customer.  The note to all customers shows a lot of class and humanity. Here's the text if you have trouble reading the pix.

We know there are a lot of choices when it comes to where you shop, so on behalf of the entire team, I want to personally thank you for being a J.Crew customer. As we head into 2012, our most important mission continues to be providing you with the very best in design, quality and service. We look forward to seeing you in the new year. If there is anything we can ever do better, please don't hesitate to let us know: 24-7@jcrew.com. WISHING YOU A VERY HAPPY HOLIDAY. Mickey

The new year is fast coming up. I put together my thoughts on reputation trends to expect in 2012. It is on the HuffingtonPost site.  Take a look and let me know what you think. Happy pre-Xmas day.

Sad day when you see the former head of McKinsey -- Rajat Gupta -- charged with insider trading that could lead to 11 years in prison. This happened yesterday during the Raj Rajaratnam Galleon trial. Here's a quote-to-go for the day:

"You don't get on the board of Goldman Sachs without having accomplished alot in your life and having a great reputation. But having a great reputation doesn't give you a free pass to violate the law. Nobody is above the law, no matter how good their reputation is." (Reed Brodsky, prosecutor)

A lot interests me about the Rupert Murdoch and News Corp unfolding crisis. But two things are on my mind. One is a quote that I have used from Murdoch in articles or such: " Reputation's worth more than the last hundred million dollars."  The second is that Murdoch has not used the "reputation" word in his comments although the only female in this drama, Rebekah Brooks, has. She said the following in her resignation letter: "The reputation of the company we love so much, as well as the press freedoms we value so highly, are all at risk."  Let's see who uses it next. Update... 7-16 Just read that Murdoch said that the da mage to News Corp' reputation  is “nothing that will not be recovered" and that “We have a reputation of great good works in this country." More to come.

CEO Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic on Reputation Recovery below. Definitely a reputation quote to keep. Branson was asked here about reputation in response to the phone-hacking scandal:

"Your reputation is all you have in life – your personal reputation and the reputation of your brand. And if you do anything that damages that reputation, you can destroy your company," Richard Branson said. "...and it's going to be very difficult for that brand to ever recover."

If you regularly read my blog and know our work on Socializing Your CEO, you know that I follow social CEOs or other executives. Well, this story was not what I was thinking about when we first starting calling for more CEOs to use online technology.