Comments on: You Can’t Build a Reputation on What You Are Going to Do

By: Bud the pieman!!!

Bud the pieman!!! — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:53:00 +0000

Keep showing up!
Know that buck stops here!
Knowing that WE HAVE TO DO IT!
Never forget that we are as good as the last customer we served!
Thanking everyone that walks thru the door!
Good is never good enough!

By: Mark Mathson

Mark Mathson — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:20:15 +0000

Don't be an "air castle". I love it! Best phrase I learned all week.

Michael, I read a post the other day on your blog about your blog stats plateauing, well know this, you have many loyal subscribers and readers that cherish what you do, and I'm one of them.

Keep up the great work!

By: se7en | religion sucketh

se7en | religion sucketh — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:54:56 +0000

[...] scriptures and the complexities of the original language in which they were written, in this post.You Can’t Build A Reputation On What You Are Going To DoSomething we can all benefit from – the art of apologizing well.Before Apple sold 2 million [...]

By: Angel

Angel — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 21:02:37 +0000

I don’t think it is a case of a great mind on my part, probably just an unconscious lift!

By: Inspired Readings « acacielle

Inspired Readings « acacielle — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:38:48 +0000

[...] Building a reputation happens one action—one win—at a time. Do that consistently over time and your reputation will grow. Try to cut corners with hype and you will actually end up further behind.” – Michael Hyatt @ http://www.michaelhyatt.com > view the entire blog post here. [...]

By: Jeff Goins

Jeff Goins — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:34:22 +0000

Short and sweet. I like it – the title says it all!

By: John Richardson

John Richardson — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:35:25 +0000

I love the quote from Donald Miller's new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years….

"The reward you get from a story is always less than you thought it would be, and the work is harder than you imagined. The point of a story is never about the ending, remember. It's about your character getting molded in the hard work of the middle. At some point the shore behind you stops getting smaller, and you paddle and wonder why the same strokes that used to move you now only rock the boat."

Truly the real rewards are taken when the journey seems almost hopeless…

Like mile 21 on a marathon when the runner feels they can't go on
Like lifting the barbell on rep number eleven, hoping that you can make the twelfth one
Like putting aside that chocolate cake and having a banana instead
Like writing… when you don't feel like it

Maybe the best way to build a reputation is through persistence…

By: ThatGuyKC

ThatGuyKC — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:21:22 +0000

Great insight and yet a tough question.

Currently, I'm working hard in a new role, studying for MBA and purposefully building a network.

How would you adapt your advice to apply to new graduates? It's difficult to have the experienced required of many jobs and new grads face the additional challenge of an uncertain economy.

By: Gregory Scott

Gregory Scott — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:04:50 +0000

Great post, Michael. Excellence and diligence–hard work over time–is the bedrock of a good reputation, not hype. I developed a good reputation as a trial lawyer by taking small cases when I was a young and working hard on them even though there wasn't much money in them. Gradually, over time, I developed a good reputation to where even opposing attorneys began referring cases to me, which led to bigger cases and an even better reputation. Great advice. Thanks.

By: Chuck Musselwhite

Chuck Musselwhite — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:20:10 +0000

I think this is a major flaw that church planters fall into. They have grandiose visions cut and pasted right out of the latest book but have never done anything up to this point. They are convinced that they are going to do church differently and they need inordinate amounts of cash to do it. My opinion is "Show me what you can do with what you got and then I contemplate giving to where you are going."

By: Michael Hyatt

Michael Hyatt — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 22:50:36 +0000

I don’t think it is a case of a great mind on my part, probably just an unconscious lift!

By: Matt Edmundson

Matt Edmundson — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:57:05 +0000

Totally agree. Think this definitely applies to churches, although in church we often build a reputation on what happened 10-15 years ago (God moved in 1985, it was awesome…etc). I think there should be a regular injection of credibility to sustain your reputation (it needs to be fed).

Great post as ever Michael.

By: davidbmc

davidbmc — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:39:04 +0000

I'm with Lynn and love the PLan, Execute, Rinse and Repeat line. I'll be stealing that.

As I read your post it reminded me of when I was younger and building some air castles of my own. They were fantastic castles and I was working on the execution when the funding ran out. The group I was working with was always trying to find funding and never could.

Years later I have people come up to me all the time (still) asking why we never finished it. When I explain that we could no longer responsibly fund it on our own and could not get the funding they always say they would have funded if they would have known. "It was wonderful!" The problem is they did know. We had communicated the need repeatedly.

The issue was trust. They trust me now. They didnt trust me then. I dont blame them. They are trusting the version of me now that has accomplished things and they would like to go back and get in on that project I abandoned. But we all move on.

By: Grant Martin

Grant Martin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:43:52 +0000

I feel like kind of a jerk pointing this out, but your headline, “You Can’t Build a Reputation on What You Are Going to Do,” is, word for word, one of Henry Ford’s most famous quotes.

I’m not saying that you lifted it; rather, I’d like to think it’s simply a case of great minds thinking alike.

By: Paul Hickernell

Paul Hickernell — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:05:11 +0000

Great truth to confront my procrastination addiction. To answer your question; I have begun building my online presence beyond my blog by writing articles for other sites. After I build my confidence I will move to some print publications I respect. I always step cautiously. My wife keeps encouraging me to step more and step farther.

By: @Jenni_Burke

@Jenni_Burke — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:30:00 +0000

So true, Mike! This is why when I work with authors-to-be, I advise them to do what they can NOW, before they have a publishing deal in hand, to build their author brand and gather their tribe. A lot of books and authors seem to have great "potential". But publishers are much more likely to take a risk on a new author who is already out there connecting with her or his audience–whether through a strong social media presence, writing articles, public speaking, etc.

By: J. Michael Dean

J. Michael Dean — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:12:47 +0000

Michael, a person's experiences and accomplishments can define them, yet challenging themselves to reaching their dreams will provide a more fulfilling professional and personal life.

By: Vicki Small

Vicki Small — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:15:15 +0000

Many years ago, I worked for a lawyer whose practice was limited to civil law. He had a couple of clients who came in every couple of years, wanting to set up a new corporation. They had chosen clever corporate names and were all ready to start making their gadgets and whatchamacallits. Their businesses never got past the creation stage: Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws, etc.

I asked my boss, once, why they sank money into legal fees before they had real reason to think they could succeed, before they knew they had a market and working capital. He told me a lot of people just liked the excitement of coming up with an idea, choosing a name and setting up the corporation.

They never completed their plans; consequently, they had nothing to execute. No need to rinse and repeat.

By: Jeremiah Miller

Jeremiah Miller — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:47:57 +0000

Great post! I was just thinking about this in the car this morning; why do we spend so much time telling others what we are going to do rather than just doing it? Here is what I came up with; we do this in order to gain concensus and help to motivate ourselves. People with authentic self-confidence tend to just do stuff and let people see the results of their work. Insecure people tend to tell other people about the cool ideas they have and all the things the are going to do.

Jeremiah Miller
forgingleaders.blogspot.com

By: Brett Duncan

Brett Duncan — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:47:19 +0000

I just wrapped up a project with an agency who promised the world and delivered just shy of a country. We made it happen, but only with my internal team stepping up and filling the gaps. What became very apparent was that the agency has wonderful ideas, which are valuable and needed. But they suck at execution.

We're attracted to being the "idea guy," not because it means we're creative, but because it implies we don't have to execute. The truly successful can either do both well or execute well and dream marginally.

bd
@bdunc1