A leader’s reputation influences how their people, colleagues, and clients respond to their leadership. Yet without regular contact with a leader, prevailing opinions can be anecdotal, off base, and out of date. And our brains are wired to stick with our conclusions about each other, even based on sketchy information. As a result, except among the few who know you best, your reputation is probably not a very accurate picture. With practice and help, you can learn what others think about you, sift it for any useful developmental feedback, and reduce inaccuracies by helping them get to know you better. This reputational mirror practice clarifies where you stand, illuminates your own blind spots, and strengthens your influence / effectiveness beyond your inner circle.
Self-coaching:
- Which, among the many available methods of gaining a picture of your own reputation, would you find credible and useful? Who should be tapped to offer their opinions?
- Once you’ve obtained that information, it’s important to sort it into priorities (e.g., from “actionable” to “informational.”)
- It’s not uncommon for leaders to collect this information and put it on permanent hold, as it can be daunting. What would help you keep focused on it in order to develop yourself, and help others know you better?
David Peck
Executive Coach
and President
Leadership
Unleashed
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Based on client experiences / lessons learned, our weekly LeaderTips have been offering self-coaching themes and topics of interest to leaders since 2004. They are often published in BusinessWeek Online, sent weekly to our clients, and hundreds of other corporate leaders worldwide. I invite you to forward them to others, who are also welcome to subscribe using the link below. Note that over 100 of these tips appear in my book, Beyond Effective: Practices in Self-aware Leadership. Click here to subscribe to LeaderTips via email.
