Executive Reputation Matters: Here's Why

As a chief executive of your company, it's important to manage your online reputation for the company and for yourself. Because you are a visible leader within the business, your ideas and reputation support the company's online profile and build your personal brand. Executive reputation management enhances all the leadership qualities that you have. 

Why does executive reputation matter?

To help you hire better employees, a good company and executive reputation can work together. Potential employees are attracted to both the company and executive reputations. This gives them an indication of:

• The workplace environment
• Business values, mission, and culture
• Recognized and rewarded behavior

Importantly, executives with a reputation as thought leaders and industry experts will naturally attract the best employees. They are more dedicated to their industry, have more talent, work hard, and are eager to learn from top names in the field.

How well you manage your executive reputation reflects directly on your company culture and the various operations it undertakes. When you have an excellent executive reputation, your customers trust your brand and willingly invest in it more.

Attract Better Investors and Customers

Positive executive reputations are more attractive to investors and customers. Business leaders who are strong in managing their executive reputations can effectively share the best aspects of their personal reputations with the company's reputation. This will attract customers and investors who appreciate those qualities.

Better Media Coverage

Businesses are not the people that connect with people. An executive's reputation is more important than getting media coverage. The good press also builds the executive's brand and raises the profile of the company. A positive online reputation can attract more journalists and produce better news stories. It also makes it easier to get press releases published.

The thought leaders are the ones who make the company more visible. These executives increase the visibility and expertise of both their company and their brand by regularly publishing expert content that includes the business name.

5 Ways to Manage your Executive Reputation

The sooner you learn to build and manage your executive reputation, the better. Unless you do it for yourself, other people will. Here are a few tips that you must ensure to manage your executive reputation:

Be accessible 

Start proactively. Discuss what your company is doing. Talk to your local community about what you offer, your products, and what you do on the inside. You don't have to be embarrassed by your business.

Develop a conversational approach where you make your customers feel comfortable reaching out to you. If you spot an issue, query, or problem, make sure you respond to it immediately. Handling a reputational crisis is a crucial part of your executive reputation strategy.  

Get involved in CSR

CSR (corporate social responsibility) is the idea that businesses have a responsibility to do good. CSR is a way for companies to self-regulate their actions and make themselves accountable to customers, stakeholders, the community, and the wider world.

Participate in your local community and at community events. Show them that you care about a social cause more than your own success. If you show them that you care about them, they will be more inclined to talk positively about you, or even talk about you.

Develop a healthy work culture

Employees who are happy at work are more productive, more focused, and more engaged in their work. Employees who are stressed or unhappy in their work environment tend to be disengaged, which can have a negative impact on productivity and the bottom line.

Although it is impossible to guarantee that everyone is stress-free every day, a positive work environment is a key element of an organizational culture that thrives. This will greatly reduce stress, turnover, and former employees leaving bad reviews. In turn, increase productivity, employee longevity, and positive feedback. 

Learn more about employee value proposition examples.

Post responsibly

People sometimes believe that if they jump on a topic that is hot, it will make them more popular in the media. Many executives have caused a reputation crisis by speaking out on sensitive topics. Instead of trying to take advantage of a trend, think more about adding value to the trend.

Wall Street bank JP Morgan was the center of a social media storm when it invited Twitter users using the hashtag #AskJPM to submit questions to an executive. Twitter members responded with an outpouring of abuse. More than 8,000 replies were received within six hours. Two-thirds of all comments were negative.

Stay relevant

Many executives will face a challenge in staying relevant in the age of disruptive technologies. The innovator duality of optimizing existing businesses and identifying new opportunities will make a difference in this era of change. This will ensure long-term success.

Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, stated that "if you're not doing some crazy things, then you're doing it wrong." Digital transformation is a path that leaders can follow to help their company reach its full potential.

Final Words

Building an excellent executive reputation is the sure-shot way to your business’s success. Online reputation management provides a valuable opportunity to increase trust and build your career at the same time. However, no matter how long it takes to build a reputation, there are chances of ruining it in a much shorter time. Warren Buffet’s famous quote states “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” The road to success is not as difficult as it may seem. Be consistent with delivering your promises, be strategic along the way, take advantage of opportunities, and take care of your employees and customers.