Monday 28 February 2011

A Good Reputation To Your Success

 Success is basically the sense of being able to accomplish what we want in our lives - probably can further be defined as material possessions or quality of life. It gives us the sense of fulfillment, the sense of victory emanating from the ability to manage challenges toward achieving the goal. Success gives us the sense of value, that our life is worth it, that we are capable human beings. In short, success makes us feel good and that's why people are so obsessed by it.

However, does everyone have what it takes to succeed? What are the requirements for success? First, we can say that success requires ability to manage resources toward the direction of our goals, of which persistence - consistent actions for certain duration of time - will be a critical element. In the most popular terms, resources include time and money (or capital for running business). We can also take into account energy - energy can be fuel, but it can also refer to physical power as we often hear people say "I don't have the energy for it". In some industries, resources are called 4M (Man, Material, Machine and Method). Whatever the circumstance, resources are the means (in any form) or instruments needed to accomplish certain goals.

Among the resources, human (Man) will be the most important asset, making ability to manage people a necessity in working toward achieving goals. We have to work with people because we cannot do everything by ourselves. We need others, in whatever hierarchy they can be - business partners, subordinates, bosses, investors, friends, family, acquaintances, and so on. We can have relationships in any form for any goals. But all in all, relationship is an inseparable element of a fulfilling and rewarding life.

What is reputation has to do with all of these?

Good reputation has a lot to do with our relationship with people. In daily life, people need assurance that they can rely on us. In business, people need assurance that we have the capacity to deliver the services we promise. It is all about trust. People don't want to run the risk, business is about gaining - people make an investment because they want to gain something in return. A good reputation helps develop the trust to make people believe that we are reliable and capable enough to deliver the things people go after. People want to make sure that the money spent is worth it. That's why people like to go for referrals - they want to learn from those who already have the experience that they know for sure what they are getting into. That's why people like to ask for credentials - they want to see our "history", that we were and will always be reliable and trustworthy.

Because people are so particular about risk, they are not willing to deal with people they don't trust. They don't want to go for the trouble. Once trust is violated, people are not willing to make the same mistake, making it important to maintain a good reputation at all times. Likewise, it is necessary to run a damage control once reputation is put on the line, for one reason or another.

It is important to maintain a good reputation because people give more weight to negative things as opposed to positive things. In other words, people remember and put more precautions to bad things than they do to positive things. Bad acts outweigh good deeds and bad words spread faster. It's harder to recover the good name once damage is done - it takes more than double the work, to recover one act it requires more than one good deed just to neutralize it, let alone building a new one. Therefore, there is a saying "Do it right at the first time". It is more sensible to do it right since the beginning, because you only have one opportunity, rarely if no second chance.

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