The promises you make, and the actions you take to fulfil them, are often claimed as two of the building blocks of reputation. The third pillar being how others judge you.
With such a mixture of factors it is easy to see why the term reputation is loose and that there is no easy way to consistently and meaningfully measure what we mean by it.
If we look more closely at how others judge us it becomes clear that there are very distinct groups who might take an interest.
In simple terms we can break them into those directly affected, those who may through a longer chain be influenced or caused to change behaviour and those who may have wider ‘observer’ status.
Their distinct status in relation to those who they judge will impact on their opinions. Judgement can never take place in isolation. It is not a simple, single external judgement as sometimes implied.
Often it will not be until an organisation or individual seeks approval for actions will it be known whether ‘reputational support’ will be forthcoming or denied.
Equally, not all judges of behaviour can be treated equally. Identifying the highly influential, whether on the basis of power, influence or respect is critical when assessing reputation.
The modelling of influence has become an increasingly important aspect of modern communications. Many roots can be found within social network analysis which developed theoretical models on the behaviour of individuals, groups and protagonists in the pre Facebook and Twitter world.
Modern social media analysis now allows us to build the digital maps of connection, information flow, and virtual visualisations of critical influencers.
Such glimpses tempt us to think that we are closer to measuring reputation and planning campaigns that have real traction given our promises and actions.
However, we should not be seduced by the ability to observe connections and flows of information more easily.
When considering how our promises and actions will be regarded it remains vital to consider societal attitudes, cultural frameworks, expectations of behaviour as well as being sensitive to delivering new thoughts and approaches.
Equally the need for organisations and high profile individuals to be demonstrably effective ‘corporate citizens’ has moved from the idyllic background to the highly observable foreground. Another pressure for the makers and defenders of reputation to embrace.