Greetings everyone 🙌
Have you ever been to a place for the first time and you were been introduced to the people and then just as you were about to get cozy and settle in with your acquaintances, the person introducing others then tells you to avoid a certain person because he or she is so, so and so.
The scenerio I described above is not foreign as most of us would have encountered such either in school, work place or a new living environment. The fact remains that people will definitely have an opinion about you and that is my simple logical definition to reputation.
It doesn't matter whether they know you or not, it is very easy for people to come up with certain conclusions and deductions based on what they have observed about you either from the way you behave, talk, walk and associate with people. There are several definitions of reputation but these two definitions hit the nail on the head for me.
Reputation is the opinion or perception that peopl have about you based on actions, behaviour, words and achievements.
Reputation is the way others view , respect or trust you based on your past actions and behaviour.
From both definitions above, you can see that people will always form opinions about you, irrespective of whether they know the real you or not and might I add that you can know how people view you from the things they say about you or from the general approach that people have towards you.
There are people who are generally disrespected or shunned because they give off bad vibes either through their dressing, aggressive behaviour or uncultured words. Take the louts that hang around the roadside and motor park garages or the prostitutes as a case study. Then there are other people who are highly respected and celebrated by the people in their society. A good example is a clergy. With this we can see that one's reputation can either be good or bad.
Is reputation important?
Even though I don't usually hang on to people's opinion of me, I believe having a good reputation is paramount to one's progress in life. This reminds of an interview that happened at my place of work recently. A young man walked in to the office with his credentials asking for a teaching job. Firstly his apppearance was zero, I mean who comes to a job interview wearing crazy jeans and sagging as well with his boxers on full display. Nevertheless, he was asked to do micro-teaching for 20 mins. While he was teaching, the students noticed that his teeth were brown, obviously from years of smoking and his breath stank of alcohol. When the students were asked if they wanted him as their teacher, they all refused. They claimed he seemed like a thug to them despite the fact that he was knowledgeable in his field and so he was not given the job.
There are many instances where I have been privileged to meet clients for home tutorials and the parents would tell me that they have seen me somewhere or at the schoo or they have heard about me and they liked me. I would simply smile and say "thank you" but it gladens my heart to know that I have a good reputation as it opens doors for me.
The good thing about reputation is that it can be built over time with good actions and behavioural patterns. It is not something that can be faked because if it is faked, one day the truth will come to light. Reputation might not be all there is about you but it makes up about 40% of what people know about you, so endeavour to make it count.
Thank you for reading..shalom.
Images used are mine.