Who is in charge of our image? Professional reputation management

Abstract

This chapter provides suggestions for positive ways in which information professionals may brand themselves and create professional visibility and reputations through developing social capital.

Keywords

Professional image

Branding

Elevator speech

Social capital

Handling job interview questions.

In this chapter, we discuss our options for managing the impressions others, especially potential employers, have of us.

2.1 Who are we? Career identities, brands, and elevator speeches

"Who are we-and who do we want and need to be in future-to our direct clients and employers, to those who may be impacted indirectly by what we do, and to our peers?" On one occasion, for the purposes of an upcoming presentation, I took the liberty of asking a couple of colleagues for a reality check: What is the "brand" that comes to mind when you think of my work as an information professional? Much to my relief, the answers in part corresponded to what I had hoped to hear and in part surprised me positively. It turns out to be a common experience that what we take for granted in our skills inventory stands out for others.

Before we communicate about our services to various stakeholder groups, we may want to establish what perceptions already exist about the function and the role we have. We are likely to find a wide range of impressions depending on the interaction we may have had with any respondent or depending on the experience he or she may have had with other information professionals-and it would be surprising if some of those impressions didn't differ from what we ourselves thought. Brands are powerful carriers of connotation for products, services, and organizations-in building ours, we want to make sure it's the right one. Are we brilliant miracle makers pulling chestnuts out of fires . or steady, dependable planners who always anticipate a future need? Are we leading edge technology wizards obviously suitable for that new tech project . or experienced defusers of apprehension in a project? Are we fast workers who can pull together vast amounts of data into a tightly produced visualization . or patient diggers who can get to the bottom of system malfunction baffling the technical team? You get the idea: What mental imagery do you want for your constituents to see when they think of you or your team?

Yes, the exercise may at first appear to have some tinge of the "how much are we admired on a scale from 1 to 10" rating I always caution against-but that is handled by focusing on the role, not on ourselves as persons. Crafting the work-related brand we want to have vis-a-vis our various stakeholder groups is a challenge for many reasons familiar to information professionals. For us, it's imperative to work effectively with our clients in ways they find directly and strategically beneficial. We may never have the opportunity to share how much effort was involved in the enabling work we perform in order to deliver stunning results very quickly from time to time; that is a conversation for another day.

The title of the theme song for the original TV series CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) is "Who are you?" I "hear" it every time I think about how our professional roles are perceived. We could all benefit from a bit of investigative digging now and then: We know who we are . but what brand do we really have in the eyes of those we strive to serve?

Of course, we are likely to assume different brands as we mature in our careers, transition to serving different groups of stakeholders, and take on management roles. What is important is to be aware that "perception is reality" and that how we are seen by the clientele is a powerful determinant of our professional success.

Thinking about the brand you want to develop and project for yourself-vis-a-vis your stakeholders to entice them to engage you in their projects or among your peers to maximize the chances of being mentioned when a position becomes available-you may find it helpful to ponder your own reaction to branding as we know it from the consumer goods sphere. You may never have touched one, but you know how a Rolex or TagHeuer watch is different from a Casio or a Swatch, and you know how a MontBlanc fountain pen is different from a Bic ballpoint. (No value judgment is implied; the various products were developed for varying purposes and audiences.) Why would you know something about a product you have never touched? Because you have heard about it in advertising for years. You know to expect durability from a Samsonite suitcase and good value from a stay at a Holiday Inn because you have been told of those qualities. In that same way, it is possible to send a message to our target market (paying customers if we are consultants or freelancers and internal users if we are employees) about what they may expect from our services.

One challenge, however, is the relatively short time frame we have at our disposal-the luxury of nurturing our brands over decades is not available the way it has been, say, for some iconic manufacturers. We may have but weeks or months in which to get across our professional brand-or even seconds. Much has been said about the need to perfect an "elevator speech" distillation of what we offer-a short but engaging description intended to pique the interest of the listener. If you have attempted to craft one, you know the truth: it is insanely difficult!

Here's how I tackled it once: It is 11 o'clock. Do you know what your knowledge workers are doing with the expensive time and resources you pay for? At de Stricker Associates, we help our clients understand and then set priorities as to options for knowledge management, intercollegial sharing, and corporate memory so that they spend their money and efforts wisely and with the best possible results. Such a statement is meant for the ears of a senior executive well aware of the cost of salaries for highly educated employees; I would make a different pitch to a manager concerned about the growing inability of employees to find documents on the intranet: "We help clarify your options for capturing and later finding your documents."

No matter what you do professionally, perfect your 30-second story to do justice to your brand. Come up with variations for different audiences such as the interns versus the senior leaders in the company where you work. Polish the confidence and conviction with which you speak, and have on hand anecdotes to illustrate the elements in your story in case anyone asks for more detail. Have the spiel down pat-and make sure it's focused on client/user benefits: say (as an example) "my work enables you to save time and effort, reduce risk, and reach a much larger target audience" rather than "I perform in-depth market research" or "I conduct industry studies." In advising my colleagues to speak to client advantage, I stress that how we are able to deliver that advantage is our concern, not the client's. In fact, let me be extra blunt on this point: if a client expresses admiration for something you did, the correct response is "always happy to help; feel free to tell your colleagues." ("Oh, it was quite simple" is NOT a comment ever to be uttered!)

Social capital: Invest in it

In many career related conversations, the concept of social capital comes up, reinforcing that it deserves deliberate attention. Looking back, I see how building social capital paved the way for the evolution of my own career-a key factor was an innate tendency toward assistance to colleagues and association activities over and above the responsibilities of work. Now, I am in a position to advise younger career builders: "Invest in your social capital-it will produce results, if not tomorrow, then later throughout your working life."

By social capital I mean the reputation we build as we contribute to the communities in which we move professionally and personally, and I mean the "brand" or "label" we attach to ourselves through those contributions. It involves the "bank account" of trust and rapport we draw on when we need support for an idea or outright help in a specific situation. We may not think of it as social capital building when we respond to a request with "of course I can do that for you"-but that is the cumulative outcome.

Here is a sampling of tips for social capital building:

 Sign up: Offer to perform a task or role in a relevant group or association. Even better, run for office. Serving in an official capacity looks good on the resume.

 Write up: Tell the editors of a newsletter/bulletin/blog that you will contribute a piece . or four. Summarizing key points from a conference session may be a good beginning . later, add pieces arising from your own professional pursuits.

 Show up: Come to the local events put on by your professional associations and speak to attendees you don't already know. In so doing you easily broaden your...