A reputation is one aspect of a personal brand, not its definition. How the firm protects it: before a crisis, during one, and through a record that speaks for you.
Reputation architecture is one of the three disciplines the firm names in its own description. Its position is plain: a reputation is the consensus around a person, it cannot be bought, and its size is not a shield. This guide gathers the doctrine, the professions where trust is the product, and the moves that protect it.
The Manifesto tells the story of Goliath, whose reputation was built on being too big to fall. It takes one person with a negative experience to start a rumor, and one unchecked rumor can spread like a disease through everything you have built.
Addressing an issue swiftly and intelligently is most of damage control. The book sets out four responses, each with its own costs, to weigh before acting.
No matter how big you become or how far your personal brand’s fame and influence reaches, you are always a single misstep away from it all crashing down.
Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, Second Edition, 5.1
Chapter 5 of the Manifesto, Reputation Management, follows the idea through leverage, credibility, controversy, crises, endorsements, and compiling wins. The Brand Audit scores it as Reputational Health & Risks. The full entry: The Leaning Tower.
No matter how far a personal brand reaches, it is always a single misstep away from crashing down. The size of a reputation is not a shield.
To be a public figure is to be watched. As your efforts pay off, the people who hold leverage over you, and what they could do with it, matter more.
Over a lifetime of building a personal brand, something less than ideal will happen. A crisis is rarely the end; how you respond decides most of the damage.
Avoid controversy that concerns your own reputation. External controversy, handled with intent and class, can position you as the expert.
By compiling wins, future successes become easier to obtain. A record that speaks for you does the convincing you once had to do yourself.
Every endorsement is an extension of your good faith and your influence. Research before you attach your name to anyone or anything.
Clients hire a lawyer, not a letterhead. The attorneys whose names are mentioned in the right circles are the ones who built a personal brand on purpose.
In finance, trust is the product. A personal brand is how a client decides to trust you with their money before they have ever met you.
A strong clinical reputation earns trust from patients who find you. A personal brand decides how many of them ever do.
Each defined once in Personal Branding Terms and Doctrine.
From the Personal Branding Tips, one practical move a day. Every Reputation tip is on the tips page.
Advice Isaac Mashman has given on this subject on his own shows and in interviews, as the Doctrine Library cites it, each linked to its transcript. His own guide to the subject, with his strongest explanation and more interviews, is on isaacmashman.com: Isaac Mashman's guide to building a reputation (opens in a new tab).
Track both halves: how much attention you are earning, and what you are doing with it. If one grows without the other, correct it.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“attention and actions get reputation”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “The Fundamentals of Personal Branding”, August 19, 2020
Search your name with words like scam, review, and complaint. If something negative appears, address it openly instead of hoping nobody finds it.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“have you ever googled yourself and found something negative about you”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “What Is Public Relations”, April 18, 2022
Before you partner with or hire someone, look at their record the way an investor looks at a stock: coverage, track record, lawsuits, and the numbers they actually do.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“you gotta look at their reputation”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “People, Personality and Personal Branding”, September 26, 2020
As told in the Manifesto and on this site.
The Manifesto tells the story of Goliath, whose reputation was built on being too big to fall. One person with a negative experience can start a rumor, and one unchecked rumor can spread through everything a person has built.
The Leaning TowerBetween a cheaper consultant with no case studies and a costlier one with verifiable results, the Manifesto's example has the one with evidence winning the business.
Compiling WinsThe Manifesto sets out five ways people respond to a crisis, from pretending nothing happened to giving to charity. It favors addressing the situation head on, and only with real change afterward.
Dealing With CrisesHow an engagement is structured, and your team within it.
How Consultations WorkFree. Reputational Health & Risks is one of the five pillars it scores.
Take the Brand Audit (opens in a new tab)Engagements are accepted by application. The firm reviews every one.
Request a ConsultationThe 4 Pillar Questions, The Five Personal Brand Pillars, the Hierarchy, and the Brand Audit that measures them.
Visibility and edification, distribution, omnipresence, and the executives, authors, and builders it matters to most.
The FORM questions, introductions that skip the line, The Power of 3, and a contact list that solves problems.
Engagements are accepted by application and seats are limited each quarter. Tell us who you are, what you are building, and the position you intend to hold.
Consultations are virtual or in person. See what each includes, and what is asked of you: Virtual or In Person.
