Your career reputation is actually comprised of several smaller components, so for the sake of it this article will focus on cultivating your career reputations. It is these reputations that merge to form a holistic image that outsiders will have of you when they interact with you on a professional basis. There are changes you can make in your personality, your actions, and in your thoughts that will control how your reputation is outwardly manifested.

Reputation for Fairness

Being fair determines how people will respond to other aspects of the reputation as a whole. Are your choices made in a fair manner with the best interests of everyone or are they self-centered and self-serving? What drives you? Do you want to take more than you are willing to give others in return?

Reputation for Honesty

How honest are you, and are you consistently honest? Do you admit to mistakes you have made before it is too late and the problem has gotten out of hand? Do you sugar coat the truth or conveniently leave out details because you worry about upsetting others? Do you have a difficult time with conveying how you truly think and feel to other people?

Reputation for Decision-Making

How do you go about making decisions? Are you able to make decisions in the matter of a few seconds and with certainty or are you the type to agonize over something and remain unsure for hours? How do you feel about making mistakes, and knowing that there is a chance you may fill in the end? Does failure bother you?

Reputation for Empathy

How are you able to relate to those around you? Are you able to understand the human condition? Are you able to understand the ordeal that other people are facing or do you look at matters as how they only pertain to you?

Reputation for Trustworthiness

Reputation for Clarity

Are coworkers able to understand you or is there constant confusion? Clarity involves project work, communication, goals, and directions. How well do others understand you?

Reputation for Recognizing the Big and Small Pictures

What type of visionary are you? Do you focus on the big picture or are you able to see and work on all small details of a project? Where does your focus tend to lie: on the overall or on the minute details?

Reputation for Balancing Work and Self

How important is your work to your life? Is your work the primary focus of your life? Can you separate when you should make beneficial decisions for yourself as opposed to work related decisions? How does your family and personal life mesh with the work life you have? Are work and home life in a healthy balance?

Each of these smaller 'reputations' make up the main reputation that others perceive of you. What you do now directly affects what will come your way in the future, and in a future job change [or lack thereof]. Does your reputation match the needs and expectations of the company, and in return does your beliefs and needs match the company's reputation? Are you and your company in harmony? Or is your relationship going against the flow of the company and detrimental to the career you are trying to build?

These are all considerations, which I will be discussing in depth over the next several weeks. It is my sincere wish for you to join me, and enrich your life and your reputation for the better.