Recovering from a damaged Reputation

 

Recovering from a damaged Reputation

When a reputation is attacked due to a word used, a phrase used or even a product went the way of the dodo bird, it can be devastating and unless handled correctly it could stick around for a very long time. When you have been put into the cross hairs by a disgruntled person or you find yourself in the crosshairs of cancel culture ideology over something politically incorrect, you could be in serious trouble and just don’t know how to get out of it. Well, that’s what we’re going to discuss today.

My father used to always say that it can take a lifetime to create a reputation and only a few minutes to have it destroyed because of a mistake. You see my father was in politics and he taught me the tricks of the political trade in how to destroy a political career or to save it. I’ve saved plenty of them in my career. Let’s just say I was a political spin doctor and knew when to cremate the ugly bones once and for all and save the reputation of the person trying to get elected.

In business it’s the same thing, your competitor, a disgruntled employee or just someone who is jealous of your success is going to try to destroy your happiness by tainting your reputation in order to hurt you. It can become an emotional rollercoaster if you don’t handle the situation correctly or destroy your ability to earn a living completely.

This is usually the time when my cell phone begins to ring and someone who has had their reputation challenged calls begging for help. This is when the spin doctor starts to examine the situation, diagnose the problem at hand, and come up with a course of treatment to remedy the situation in order to restore order in your life. Triage is usually immediately to stop the bleeding, but at times it takes more than just triage, it takes some hard surgery that might take hours or a day or two before the healing can begin.  

First off you must set realistic goals and future expectations for yourself and your business. Let’s say you’re in the business to provide healthcare supplies or services and someone calls the office of the contracting officer and accuses you of a criminal act, but you’ve never done anything criminal in your life, it was an anonymous call claiming you were taking drugs, or selling them to young adults. Something like that could jeopardize your ability to gain that contract so you must act fast. Either someone you trust like a former business associate, a cop or a public official needs to step up and put their reputation on the line to support you and defend you in this situation By stating that you have never done such a thing because you had a cousin die due to an overdose and you have a hatred for drugs and those who sell them. Unfortunately, not everyone will stand up for another person like you would, so that means you have to pay an attorney to fight for you, a public relations firm, or a spin doctor like me to help you weather the storm that is brewing around you. Secondly, you must refrain from any and all social media posts about your work, your pending contract, or even about the situation until this damaging accusation is behind you.

Evaluation of the damage caused is the next step. You must conduct a thorough investigation of all digital footprints of social media to determine what impact has been made under your name. This will give you a solid baseline on which to work from. Is the situation really that serious or are your emotions running amok. Many times, the situation can be fixed by someone stepping forward and defending you to the contracting office, or as I used to recommend an in-depth story in the local or national newspaper. You tell your story and give the facts about why you hate drugs and drug dealers. That would squash any doubts about the accusations being levied against you by some unknown jealous individual. It will also prevent any potential investor or future contracting officer from doing business with you in the future. The story could then be shared on social media and found later should the issue arise again. The evidence of your cousin’s death is already public record and in how they died.  When the story is told you must be sure to separate your feelings from the facts of the case. In stressing that the death was felt very deeply and personally because you were close to your cousin while growing up and their death impacted the way you see drug dealers and what they do to earn a living. Once the story breaks, social media can do the cleanup work for you should you have a good baseline of supporters that would be willing to share the story with their network of friends and followers. This usually helps to stop the bullying in person and online.

It's up to your attorney or spin doctor to recommend that you issue a very carefully crafted statement about the situation at hand. Once the statement has been rendered you must pick your social media battles very carefully. You must understand that you can’t defend yourself from everyone online, however, the right person defending you online can make must better sense and help stem the tides of hatred against you that will quell the negative statements about you in a very short time. Social media should only be used as a feedback tool or better yet a thermometer to test the waters so to speak as to how hot you are as a negative subject. If you do things correctly social media could be your lifesaver to rebuilding your reputation.

 

Author Elizabeth Kilbride is a former political operative, author, scriptwriter, historian, and journalist. business professional, creative artist, and life coach consultant. Ms. Kilbride holds a Master's in Criminology and a BS in Business Management she stepped out of the loop for a while but is now back with a powerful opinion and voice in the direction of this country and our economy. As a life coach, she is available to counsel individuals to enjoy their dreams and a better life. Ms. Kilbride loves to travel, and photograph her surroundings and is also a gourmet cook who loves to garden and preserve food for the winter months.