The third important component of our mojo is our reputation that builds up over time. In a sense, it is the sum total of who we are and what we achieve — the two elements we discussed earlier. It is reflected in other people’s recognition (or rejection) of our identity and achievement.
Read: On identifying your ‘Mojo’ and figuring out your achievements
It is surprising that many times, we may not even be aware of this. While we cannot create our own reputation, we can influence it, however. We can be clear-eyed about what we think of other people, but when it comes to what the other people think of us, we can be living in the dark. We learnt about this when we went through lessons in Johari Window, a simple yet very powerful framework for self-awareness. In Johari Window, we call this our “blind spot.”
The blind spot
At best, many of us may harbour or nurture a vague notion about our reputation. And it may be something like, “I am nice person” or “I am good at my work,” or “I am the go-to person for anyone who needs help.”
We never dig deeper into more specific details of our reputation, and it is not because we do not care — we do care a lot about it. It is just that we confuse our need to be considered smart, with our need to be considered effective by the world. The two are not the same thing. In fact, one may often overwhelm the other.
The need to prove
One of the overwhelming and pernicious impulses among successful people is their compulsive need to prove how ‘smart’ they are.
It is drilled into us from our early days of growing up that we need to be smarter. We are graded, ranked and bell-curved in a winnowing process that separates the average from the smart, from the super-smart. As grown-up professionals, it is manifested differently now in the form of pay-checks, promotions and praise.
However, our need to be the smartest person in the room often leads to some incredibly stupid behaviour. One outcome of this tendency is that we become poor listeners. After all, we know more and better than others, or at least that is what we believe.
Brain pill
To this, there’s a cure. Dr Goldsmith offers what he calls a “Brain Pill Question” for us to answer to know which side we fall on — smart or effective. And I reproduce this question below:
You are offered a Brain Pill. If you swallow this pill, you will become 10 per cent more intelligent than you currently are; you will be more adept at reading comprehension, logic and critical thinking. However, to all other people you know and will meet in the future, you will seem 20 per cent less intelligent. In other words, you will immediately become smarter, but the rest of the world will perceive you as dumber. Do you take this pill?
Your answer says a lot about how you value your reputation. Remember the smart/effective distinction the next time you face a career decision. Experience tells us that choosing to be effective over being smart ultimately pays off in our reputation, achievement and consequently, our Mojo.
Sequence of actions
Reputations are formed by a sequence of actions that resemble one another. Negative reputations too form in the same unhurried, incremental way as positive reputations. Because we do not keep track of our repeat behaviour, we do not see the pattern that others see in us.
Since reputations are not based on a single event, changing our reputation cannot be done with a single event or behaviour. Stephen Covey described this beautifully when he said: “You cannot talk yourself out of situations you have behaved yourself into.” This is very profound. Reputations cannot be changed by making promises or statements of amends. People will watch our behaviour — the changed one at that — for a long time, before they start to perceive us as different.
By impacting our reputation, we can impact our mojo. Building and nurturing a great reputation over time in an area that matters in our lives makes mojo maintenance more of a joy than a chore.
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