Peak Performers by Tiffany Uman

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How to build a reputation that opens doors

May 19, 2025

Thank you for joining my Peak Performers newsletter! Every Monday, we share practical tips and scripts to help you land the roles you want, thrive with confidence at work and grow faster.

Relying on 'good work' alone isn’t enough.

Yes, delivering quality work is important, but that's table stakes. Your reputation becomes the multiplier.

According to a Harvard Business Review study, executives with strong reputations are 2.5X more likely to be offered leadership roles and stretch assignments, even when performance is held constant.

That’s because your reputation is more than just being known. It starts by asking yourself:

→ What do I want to be known for?
→ How do I want people to feel after working with me?
→ What legacy do I want to leave behind?

A powerful reputation is like a magnet, pulling in opportunities, champions, and career-defining moments that consistently help you level up. Let’s talk about how to build one.

4 ways to build your reputation that opens doors

1/ Being respected > being liked

If you tend to be a people pleaser, this limits your reputation. Why? Because this easily leads to:

• Mismanaging expectations for yourself.
• Lacking the necessary resilience to overcome hard things.
• Setting unrealistic standards for your capacity and workload.
• Being overlooked for promotions and advancement opportunities.
• Neglecting boundaries that allow you to focus on "promotable" tasks and projects.

Instead, shift your focus to being respected. Those who do:

→ Excel in strong critical thinking and decision making.
→ Seize their moments and bypass waiting for permission.
→ Don't obsess over what others think of them or their decisions.
→ Welcome making tough calls, challenge others to rise and see impediments as opportunities.

Being liked = what can I do to make others happy while minimizing ruffling feathers?
Being respected = what can I do to expand trust, authority and expertise in my role?

Choose wisely.

2/ Be intentional about your personal brand

Your personal brand communicates your unique strengths, values and contributions, all of which help establish you as a memorable, sought-after talent.

Consider your favourite brands such as Apple, Amazon or Netflix. What keywords immediately come to mind when you think of them? Those are not accidental. They were built with intention.

Similarly, how do you want others to view you? Consider these questions:

→ What are 3 keywords that you want others to say of you in your absence?
→ What would you want your boss to say of you to your organization's leadership team?
→ What would you want external hiring managers to gather from your professional profile?

This also inspires the people who have an influence on your career trajectory which gains you more exposure and visibility, just like our client who accelerated her promotion within just 3 months.

3/ Become an opportunity magnet

Imagine having new opportunities come to you consistently.
Imagine having leaders fight for you to join their teams.
Imagine having more choice on the roles you want.

A strong reputation does exactly that and creates a flywheel effect for your career:

Leverage the 3 core qualities below to also magnify your opportunities.

→ Integrity: People trust and respect those who choose principle over popularity. For example:

• When you make a mistake, own it fast: “That was on me, and here’s what I’m doing to fix it.”
• Give credit publicly: “This idea came from Alexandra. I helped on [X] to bring it to life.”
• Say no when needed: “I know this is a priority, but I might compromise quality if I take it on now.”

→ Consistency: Reputations are built through patterns. Some quick, easy examples:

• You provide weekly updates without being asked: “Quick update on my end. Here’s where we stand on our latest go-to-market launch plans and what’s next.”
• When faced with a roadblock, you flag it early: “This part of the project is delayed due to production backlog. I’ve looped in our commercial teams so they can inform our distributors and I'm taking the lead with supply chain to speed up the backend of the process."
• In meetings, you summarize and clarify: “To confirm, the next step is [X] due Friday, correct?”

→ Curiosity: Become the person others want to grow with. For example:

• After a project: “What’s one thing I could’ve done better?” or "What did you appreciate most about my delivery on X?"
• In meetings: “Have we considered doing it this way? I'm wondering if there’s a benefit to exploring that angle together.”
• Cross-functional learning: “I noticed your team did [X] which was a really great move. Can I pick your brain on how you approached it? I'm considering taking a similar approach.”

4/ Advocate with confidence

A strong reputation only matters if it lands the way you intend. Here’s how to make sure it does.
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→ Seek alignment: Ask for feedback regularly: “What’s one thing I do that stands out to you?” or “What are 3 qualities you'd use to describe me to others?”. Use this insight to close perception gaps.
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→ Be intentional: Don’t wait to be noticed. Speak up in meetings (“I’d like to add a different angle to this”), initiate conversations with decision-makers, and contribute meaningfully in both big and small moments.

→ Use clear “I” statements: Own your impact. Try: “I led the rollout that increased adoption by 45%,” or “I developed the new onboarding flow that reduced ramp-up time by 2 weeks.”​
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[Check out my free LinkedIn Learning nano-course on How to advocate for yourself in your career]

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​This week’s mission: Use these 3 power moves to solidify your reputation in the right way.

• Identify your top strength. Think back over the last month: When did someone praise your work? What came most naturally to you? What do people often ask you for advice on? Write down 1 sentence that captures this - “I’m known for simplifying complex problems fast.”​
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• Build your self-advocacy. Find a moment this week to confidently highlight your value in a meeting, update, or 1:1. Practice using "I" statements in your communication.
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• Ask 1 person what you're known for. Example, “I’m doing a quick reflection exercise and was curious, what are 3 words you'd use to describe me?"

You've got this!

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