One of my personal inspirational sources, Sir Richard Branson, has stated: “I think reputation is really all you have in life – and that´s something you’ve got to fight to protect”. What are the implications of his quote?

First of all, you need to have explicit knowledge about our professional reputation, what it consists of and how you are perceived by others. Then you need to find strategies to protect and develop it further. I believe this leaves you with both good and bad news.

The good news is that it is possible to analyze the main components of your professional reputation, such as skills that come with ease, your ambition level as well as your ability to inspire others. This will allow you to focus on your strengths, deselect what others to better and stand out beyond mediocrity.

The bad news are that there is a large number of assessments and tests available in the marketplace, claiming to present the correct analysis of your personality or professional potential, often encouraging you to assume a certain role, focus on specific behaviors to interact well with business stakeholders and improve your areas of weaknesses.

Wouldn’t it be great if it was possible to de-clutter the scene and understand how other professionals really perceive you and then build your strategy on how to embrace your professional potential more fully based upon your real strengths? Just think about what it would mean to you if you were confident in how others perceive you and used these insights to consciously develop your professional reputation further…

I saved the best news for the end: When trusting your professional reputation outcomes fully, you are in the best position to excel and claim your professional spot where you are or where you ought to be.

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What I notice when listening to their daily challenges is a desire to move out of a state of overwhelm, originating from being constantly available via smart phones, social media and having a global “smörgåsbord” of information via the web at your fingertips.

I have no problem in relating to this, as a collector of numerous tips, e-learning packages and “nice-to-have” articles put into a dedicated computer folder. And my book shelves are full of materials I’d love to digest…later.

Occasionally, I decide to put aside time to focus on my favourites, promising myself I will make a habit out of it. Looking back, this has not been a very successful strategy.

The only time it truly works, is when I have made an exercise upfront. It’s so simple: Grab a piece of paper and divide into 2 columns. In the first column, list 3-5 inspirational sources you would be devastated to see vanish the next day. In the second column, list 3-5 tasks you will stop doing to free up time. Make sure the list is visible to you at your desk, refrigerator or anywhere you need to be reminded when the temptation to derail hits you. Congratulations to your effective STOP DOING LIST!

Note: I stopped blogging for a while due to information and inspiration overload. Guess what’s on my STOP DOING LIST as a fixed item as of now…

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