How Do You Know What Your Colleagues Think Of You? - Image, Society

2023 Author: Oswald Adamson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 12:13

What methods are there for this? How obvious is that? Or you may not even be aware of your real reputation? And what if your reputation is unexpectedly shaken? Successful employment coach Yulia Meriz will help us to understand these issues

Understanding what your colleagues really think of you is not difficult in general. Often everything starts with a simple inner feeling that “something is wrong,” and then - it is enough just to listen and observe carefully. Since a system consisting of several people is always a dynamic system, everything that was inaccessible to some part of it sooner or later becomes available. And gossip in this case is one of the most common ways to help everything secret come to the surface.

Gossip is a kind of "oral" virus that lives in any office environment and can spread with almost lightning speed

Most often, you don't need special methods to learn more about yourself. A hearty business lunch with one of your talkative colleagues or a visit to a nearby café on Friday is often enough. The main thing here is to gain trust, so that the person who “knows everything” in the company will be impressed, open up and share with you what the team is thinking about. Yes, to some extent it is, of course, manipulation. But if suspicions about a shaken reputation have already been sown, then maybe it is worth it to finally clarify?

In what ways can you spoil your reputation?

It is easy enough to spoil a reputation, because it itself is often based on opinions that are not devoid of stereotyped stereotypes. For example, a professional should not be late for meetings, should not be too emotional, should not talk too much, should not get drunk at a corporate party, etc. All this, of course, has long been attributed to the sections of professional ethics.

A reputation can be spoiled not only by a wrong decision, but also by an extra word, an act that goes beyond the scope of professional ethics

In addition to gossip, omniscience and inexperience, there may also be such "vices" as, for example, scandalousness, dishonesty or petty theft. At the same time, a person can be a truly professional in his field, but at the same time have a not very attractive personal quality.

Is it possible to improve the reputation in the team and how best to do it?

To fix a professional reputation, in my opinion, is much easier than a personal one. In some cases, it is enough to be creative and brilliantly fulfill (or better overfulfill) any of the assigned professional tasks. That is, in this case, show yourself as a professional. A kind of rematch. And this is really quite enough for the opinion of you as a professional in society to change radically. After all, the same society is well aware that the one who does nothing is not mistaken.

But as for personal reputation … everything is much more interesting here. It is known that the perception of the qualities of another person somehow passes through a person's personal filter, as a rule, not cleared of social schemes, patterns, stereotypes, as well as psychotraumas. Consequently, the objectivity of this perception can suffer greatly. That is why, in this case, a smear of black paint on top of a bright picture can really ruin it dramatically and for a long time.

And there is a way out of this situation. For example, do not try to get rid of the black blot, but present it as the very "highlight"

According to my observations, a tarnished personal reputation can be corrected … by raising the reputation of a professional. And then the first will become nothing more than a piquant "highlight" of the general dossier of the employee, drawing attention to his bright individuality, and at the same time increasing his professional value in the eyes of the business environment.

What image can be more colorful than the image of a professional who launches successful projects with graceful ease and … at the same time is able to grab a linen napkin from a restaurant? Agree, the combination is at least attracting attention to this person and arousing genuine interest.

And one more observation. It is important to pay special attention to your personal reputation while your professional reputation is still being formed. A fragile professional reputation is akin to a castle in the sand, which is blown on enough to crumble. In this case, personal reputation - as part of the employee's overall image - directly affects his entire image. It is much easier to afford a "feint with the ears" when a professional reputation is not only formed, but also consolidated.

It is in this case that personal blunders can become that very personality. While in the first case, they will ruin the reputation in the bud

A striking example instead of output

An example comes to my mind that is extremely useful for the thoughtful reader. So, a very promising new employee of the IT department, having gone through a little at a corporate party, behaved completely inadequately: he began to be rude to the waiters, provoked a fight in the restaurant where the event was held. As a result, the management of a rather large company was forced to say goodbye to him, although it was rumored that they had plans for him as the future head of the IT department.

The saddest thing, as it became known later from his colleague, was that this employee applied to alcohol only with the aim of liberating himself and feeling himself more free and confident in the new team. But, alas, I did not calculate my strength.