Posted by We all make mistakes at some point in our career. Some mistakes could be detrimental enough to negatively affect your reputation. If you have made a mistake that could severely affect your relationships with your employer and colleagues. You will need to go back to the starting point to solidify back your position as a trustworthy and reliable employee.
1. Commit into setting things right
When you made a mistake that negatively affects your reputation, you should start setting things right. Stay collected and believe in yourself that you can amend things. Along the way, scepticism will cross your mind whether you can succeed. Instead of putting second thoughts, focus on executing and adhere to it.
Set a clear expectation that is viable and asks yourself the right questions. Start with setting up daily goals that you wish to achieve at the end of the day instead so you will not overwhelm yourself with other commitments at work. These goals can be as straightforward as coming up with a schedule or to-do lists. Once you have your goals properly tracked, now you just have to start trekking towards achieving your goals in building back your reputation.
2. Find a dependable partner to advise you and be nice to people around you
Look for a colleague that can help you when you needed it most. Talk about your current situation with your partner and seek advices and guidance to ensure you are on the right track to shape back your reputation. That being said, it is not necessary to find a person that you can rely on in your workplace. It could be anyone that you truly trust to share your situation while seeking lessons.
Always greet people and be nice to your colleagues. Reach out to people with a keen interest to know how they are doing at work. Any opportunity that they require your assistance, be there for them. This will help you in repairing your reputation in the long run. Through this manner, people will be more inclined to reach out to you instead of avoiding you. Most of all, you are paving your way to establishing a positive relationship with them as well.
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3. Don’t get defensive and avoid overcompensating
If you are an addressing the mistakes that you have made, try not get oversensitive. Imagine the conversation got from apologising to accusing other people of your wrongdoing. Accept the feedback and criticism of how they view you and apologise for the shortcomings. Once you decided to make amendments for the blunders, try not to overdo it with unnecessary actions and attention. For instance, if a colleague requires a brief helping hand, do not overextend your time and energy unless they severely lacking in support.
4. Learn from your mistakes and be patient
The most significant step to restoring your reputation is to learn from your mistakes and ensuring you won’t make the same error in the future. The progress to recovering your reputation will take time especially when it comes to changing the people perception of you. The time it takes varies based on the current impression you convey and your desired outcome. It’s their perception and it is all up to you make the needed changes.
The simplest way to make progress is to the similar characteristics with the individual. Having a common interest to engage with will certainly help shifting the perception of you in a positive note.