Example of a Reputation Statement

Reputations can make or break careers in the business world.

Your reputation identifies you to the world that exists beyond your circle of friends and acquaintances. In business, reputation is vital to the success of many operations.

Identification

A reputation statement is anything that will contribute, positively or negatively, to your reputation. Here are examples of a reputation statement: "Mr. Smith treats his clients very fairly" and "Miss Jones always comes late to meetings." Regardless of where and in what context a reputation statement is uttered, the accumulation of those statements eventually forms your overall reputation.

Significance

In corporate America, business people may rely on reputation statements from clients or fellow workers when judging whether you're right for a certain task. Reputation statements may also factor into whether a company decides to go into business with another company. Reputation statements can have damaging effects inside a workforce because they can spread lies and perpetuate incendiary emotions.

Warning

Although reputations may be the inevitable starting point when two people first meet each other, it is unfair to let possibly false and misleading preconceptions determine he course of the relationship as it moves forward.

References

• Baybrooke: Reputation Measurement
• Reputation Capital: Building and Maintaining Trust in the 21st Century, by Joachim Klewes and Robert Wreschniok