Why are they so important?

Transparency and the expectations for transparency are growing; everyone can expect to see ‘everything’ that is going on in an organisation and in society as a whole. The digitalisation and democratisation of information has fast-forwarded this trend. And this is, of course, true both from a personal and a professional capacity. Most people are, on some level, constantly on display, on stage, online, visible. Personal and professional actions are seen and can have consequences. The line between the private and the professional person has become blurred. The expectation of transparency means that people want more openness and accessibility to the truth. This means transparency is also about managing and providing the truth.

What do they need?

Ultimately, it comes down to needing trust. Those external stakeholders need to be able to trust that an organisation is behaving ethically, keeping their promises and living up to expectations. And that trust is created through the experience touchpoints that connect the external world with an organisation. Employees are a major touchpoint and what they do, what they say, how they behave become a massive reality check on whether expectations are met or not. Employees are the ultimate ‘brand ambassadors’ who, together with the actual product or service, deliver on the brand promise or not.

This short story highlights how every single person represents the company brand and, as such, is also a carrier of the company’s reputation. Every person can have an impact on the world of external stakeholders and opinion makers.

When we live up to customers and other stakeholders’ expectations, we strengthen the brand, we have a positive impact. When we do not live up to the expectations, we weaken the brand, we have a negative impact. The impact is on both stakeholders and brand. It, of course, affects personal brand, as how you represent the company is a reflection on your own brand too.

In Chapter 3, we talked about the importance of managing your own brand and reputation. In this chapter, we will take that a step further by reflecting on how you also have an impact on the organisational brand and reputation in how you interact with the external world of stakeholders and the public space.

Brand and reputation are linked but are not the same thing. Brand is about differentiation, a combination of design, products, services and communication that shape the brand promise and experience for customers – it is customer-focused. Reputation is how the organisation is perceived by the world around, how credible, responsible and trustworthy it is. Employees’ behaviours impact both an organisation’s reputation and how well the brand promise is kept.

Your impact is your legacy.

An organisation, just like individuals, teams and even countries, has a reputation. And that reputation is created over time, through words, actions and behaviours. But it is not set in stone – a reputation can quickly be tarnished and even ruined. A reputation should, most definitely, not be taken for granted. In fact, it should be taken very, very seriously. It can take us a long time: years, months, even decades, to build a strong, consistent and powerful one.

We can have a good, strong reputation, but only a few negative actions and behaviours that make others feel uncomfortable, disappointed or even betrayed can quickly damage that reputation and trust. And, once trust is damaged, it can take a long time to recover that trust. We all have our own reputation – in teams, individually or as an organisation. Whether we choose to work on it or not, we will have one. It is, therefore, highly relevant to ask: What is our reputation? What do we want it to be? What does it need to be? This could and should be part of strategic leadership dialogues and considerations.

A great reputation will sometimes travel ahead of us, and can open doors, just like a bad reputation can close doors.

If we ask you to think of a company right now that you are familiar with, you would have a view of them, right? You would have a view of their brand, their way of working, even the culture they create; what it is like to work there or what it is like to work with them. It all comes down to the consistency in actions and behaviours, the promises kept and those relationships that have built the brand and reputation. When you think cars and safety, you may, for example, think of Volvo. When you think innovative design, you may think of Apple. When you think of a fun and creative place to work, you may think of Virgin, to mention a few well-known examples.

Social media is a great way to keep in touch with clients, business partners and other stakeholders and can be an effective way to build interest and opinion, but needs to be carefully navigated. A comment, an imprint, can last forever. In that way, social media is very honest – we cannot erase our tracks. Even if a post or comment is deleted, it may already have been copied by someone and shared. On the other hand, if we are thoughtful and respectful about it, we should not have to. Famous public figures tweeting is an example of this. Things said in the heat of the moment are creating ripples whose complete impact over time is hard to assess. They affect and create a reputation, good or bad. Some time for reflection and impulse-control is key when using social media.

So, yes, reputation matters and should be taken seriously.

What organisational reputation are you creating right now? Take control of it. Think of how you, as a representative of your organisation, represent not just yourself but also your organisation when you engage with the world around you.

1. Choosing behaviours that make the difference

What kind of behaviours you demonstrate would either undermine or strengthen the brand and therefore create a negative or positive impact when you interact with external stakeholders and through the press and social media? Here are some examples. Use the empty boxes to fill in any other relevant behaviours in each of the categories that are important to you.

When operating in the external world, as a representative not just for yourself but your organisation: Which negative behaviours will you stop and which positive behaviours do/will you commit to? Which ones are particularly important in the context of your organisation’s current reality? List them below.

2. Considering your impact on customers and their experience

We would, of course, be nowhere without our customers. We all need to keep delivering an experience that makes customers come back to us. Some companies ask their customers only one thing when collecting customer feedback – would you recommend us to others? And the answer to that question is straight-talking and highly relevant.

That is why being intentional about your customer impact is so interesting. It can be easy to overlook or underestimate your part in great customer experience. Everyone tends to be more important in this arena than they think. Think about what the customers want, need and expect and what role you play in that experience. Reflect on these questions to kick-start the process of intentional customer impact.

• What have your customers been promised and, therefore, what do they expect?
• What are they experiencing? Is there a gap between expectation and reality?
• If you do not know, how could you find out what the customers experience? Could you listen in on customer calls? Read customer chats? What else could you do?
• How (when/where) do you impact the customers’ experience (even if through others)?
• How do you live up to the brand promise?
• How could you create excellent customer impact, experience? What could you do, specifically?

3. Working effectively with your partners, suppliers, subcontractors, etc.

Great, collaborative impact makes you (and your organisation) someone others want to work with. How can you best create respectful, trustful relationships with suppliers, subcontractors and other external partners?

On the negative side: what if you are a poor payer? What if you regularly delay paying your suppliers on time because your cash flow is poor? What impact will that have on your supplier? How will they feel about you and your organisation?

On the positive side: what if you work creatively with your subcontractors, creating forums for innovative exchange and learning opportunities, discussing the latest trends, preparing for the future? What impact will that have on your supplier? How will they feel about you and your organisation?

It is obvious that everyone needs supportive external relationships and partnerships to succeed over time. Take a long-term view on your external stakeholders by answering the following questions.

• What industry trends can you see for the next 5–10 years? What will your organisation need to focus on?
• What new knowledge, skills, experience do those trends demand?
• Therefore, who do you need to partner with?
• How can you start identifying who those specific partners might be?
• How will you start building those needed relationships?
• Where could the people with whom I have relationships end up in the future or in their next role? My Boss, my customer, etc?

4. Managing the media/press

If it is your job to manage the media, then you will, of course, already be very familiar and comfortable with this. If it is not, take a moment to consider how you would represent your organisation should you be given the opportunity.

When talking to the press, you have to remember that you represent your company so whatever you say becomes what your company says, you become the ‘official’ spokesperson whether you intend to or not.

Here are some guidelines to use:-

• Be intentional – what do you want to say? Your messages could appear on a bill board or a make a headline, so think carefully about the message you want to portray. Think also about how what you say comes across: voice and physiology management matters. Think of your favourite TV reporter: their posture, facial expression, voice and energy contribute greatly to their impact. He/she can and does dial up and down these impact factors based on the story and situation.
• What are the three key messages that you want to portray during a conversation/interview? Stick to those three messages and, no matter what question you are asked, ensure that you can connect one of those messages into the answer.
• Keep your messages in line with the vision and values. Ensure you are relating everything back to the bigger purpose, giving them the big why: Why we are doing this, in line with our purpose?
• Think of the ‘red thread’. This means make all the connections from the subject or discussion you are having to the vision and the bigger purpose. Help them to connect the red thread from the discussion to the bigger vision. Make the links and connections visible and clear.

The red thread

• Ensure you ‘label’ what you say and link it to the business and show them the threads and connections.

Practise by doing this exercise. Take a message you need to communicate. Now, what are the three key messages you want to get across? Practise asking yourself or ask a colleague to help by asking questions and then answering by using one of your three messages. Practise making the links and weaving the conversation back to your points, no matter what questions are asked.

5. Social media and brand management

Think of yourself as one online person. It does not matter if you are acting in your personal or your professional life; if it is going on online, it could be seen by more people than those intended. You may not be able to dictate this for others (unless you have specific organisational social media conduct codes in place) but you can always take responsibility for your own social media activities and messages and what you role model for those around you.

Unless you work in politics, be careful with how you comment on political issues as this can quickly turn into slinging matches, which can backfire into the workspace.

Think of yourself as your own, your team’s, your organisation’s brand ambassador. Without a good, strong reputation, it is hard to get others to trust you and work with you – which, in turn, makes it hard to deliver great results.

Here are five quick reflection exercises to review and manage a strong, positive, consistent brand and reputation online:

• What does your organisation want to be known for, what do you want others to see about you? That you are collaborative, responsible, knowledgeable? Or something else? Whatever it is, engage your team in discussion and agreement on how to achieve that, keeping in mind that reputation is greatly influenced by how you do something, not just what you do. It needs to be authentic.
• What messages do you want to put out there? Are there any key words that should be used? Should you share research, industry data, new products and services? Should you engage with customers, potential customers, other stakeholders?
• When actively interacting with others online, take responsibility, not just for your actions, but maybe, even more importantly, your reactions. Do not let responses become automatic; use the moment between trigger and response to carefully choose how you will respond to the words and actions of others. Every moment counts. Think about how your response will impact the other party and how it will influence their perception of you and the organisation.
• What professional social media apps are you using? What is your LinkedIn profile looking like? Do you have a representative photo? Is there enough information about what you do and how you represent your organisation? Add depth and personality to your profile by asking for recommendations and endorsements.
• What personal social media apps are you using? What are you sharing there? Would you be happy for anyone to see that? Are you on Twitter? If so, even if you put an ‘Opinions are my own’ caption, this may not be enough to fully manage the impact you have and how it reflects on the organisation you work for. This is especially true when you are a leader – you always represent the company you work for and your actions are not just seen by external audiences but also internal ones.