5 Steps to Saving Your Tarnished Workplace Brand
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I’ve written before about overcoming setbacks to your personal brand, but that piece specifically focused on your brand’s name. What about when your personal brand takes a hit in the workplace or in some way negatively impacts your career? This can be huge, and it’s something I’ve recently experienced myself.
Bring some shine back to your personal brand
1. Determine where the problem originated
Throughout January, I was interviewed multiple times by the Wall Street Journal about blacklisting. The result – and the reason I wanted to be interviewed in the first place – was a piece about how to get off a hiring manager’s blacklist. Unfortunately, my comments were severely misconstrued by many, leading to a public apology to my readers over on my blog.
There was no question where the problem originated in my case – the article caused quite a backlash! But, if you find yourself in a similar situation in your workplace or career in general, you should first determine who or what lead to the negativity.
2. Reach out and request an in-person conversation
If someone is tarnishing your personal brand whether rightfully so or otherwise, it is best to converse with them in person rather than other communication methods that could lead to further confusion and misrepresentation. Reach out, and hopefully they are mature enough to meet with you.
3. Ask for constructive feedback about what went wrong and what could be done to correct the mistake
Again, be the bigger person, and ask for the individual’s feedback. What exactly happened? How did they perceive the situation? What was their advice for correcting the error?
4. Be willing to take the advice into consideration
There are two sides to every story. Make sure you’re ready to hear whatever they have to say, regardless of whether or not you agree. Keep cool and don’t get defensive! That will only hurt you.
5. Follow through
Whatever promises you make during this meeting, be sure you actually follow through with them.
While these steps do not guarantee the individual will come around, you can at least feel more comfortable knowing you’ve done your due diligence to rectify the situation.
Who else has had this experience?
Has your brand ever been tarnished in the workplace? What did you do to correct the situation?
Heather R. Huhman is a career expert and founder & president of Come Recommended, an exclusive online community connecting the best internship and entry-level job candidates with the best employers. She is also the author of #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), national entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com and blogs about career advice at HeatherHuhman.com.
Article courtesy of Dan Schawbel, the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y. He authors the Personal Branding Blog and publishes Personal Branding Magazine and authored the upcoming book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success (Kaplan, Spring 2009). Dan has been called a “personal branding force of nature” by Fast Company and his work has been published in BrandWeek Magazine, Advertising Age and countless other publications.
