Why Minding Your Professional Reputation Gap Is A Key Strategy

“I need to work on and improve my professional shortcomings and weaknesses when preparing for my next career move.”

No, you don’t. As a professional coach, I’m not looking to have anyone focus on their areas of improvement. I’m looking for them to being mindful about their areas of improvements, but to primarily focus on their continuous learning when it comes to their strengths and their professional potential. In 2010, I met Per Frykman who is specializing in analysing the professional reputation of individuals. He opened my eyes to the new perspectives on personal branding and professional reputation management: “The truth is in the eye of the beholder”. The professional gap is not about improving of weaknesses, it’s about stretching yourself towards your true, professional potential as perceived by your professional stakeholders and yourself. Since then, minding my professional reputation gap has been a key strategy in developing my own business.

Reflections & Trends

When analysing your professional reputation, you learn not only how your professional stakeholders perceive you, you also learn about the gaps when comparing the view of others to your own self-analysis. Hence, there could be some blind spots that might prove to be very valuable when outlining your next initiative, challenge or big thing. During my decade- long career as a professional coach, I often meet people who are unaware of some of their key professional assets, either because these traits come so easily to them, or because they enjoy doing them. By involving others in identifying these traits, we can identify the blind spots and turn them into professional assets.

Since 2010, I’ve had my professional reputation analyzed three times, and each time I have experienced the following:

1. Satisfaction in obtaining confirmation on key professional as well as personal skills
2. Surprises in learning that more people, independent of each other, see things in me that I didn’t expect or know about myself
3. Excitement about the professional stretch and potential for my next big thing

When looking back, I realize that I become bolder and more experimental in my professional endeavours for each analysis. Moreover, I do not focus on my professional weaknesses at all. Given the importance of these insights, it’s a true honour to be one of Per Frykman’s business partners, allowing me to offer my own clients the professional reputation analysis as part of my portfolio.

The Challenge

 

Do you know how your professional stakeholders describe you when you are not present?

What is your next, big professional thing? 

 

Want to learn more?

If you are interested in learning more about professional reputation and trust, I recommend you taking part of the inspirational sources below:

Reputation Mastery / Per Frykman

How to build (and rebuild) trust / Frances Frei

An example: The professional reputation of Katy Caroan