The Reputation Gap: Unlearning the Story You Keep Telling Yourself
Hi Leaders,
What if the story you tell yourself about your professional value is no longer true?
Years ago, I received the results from a professional reputation analysis based on anonymous feedback from stakeholders I had worked with throughout my consulting career. Across the years, the themes sounded like this:
“Energetic and creative.”
“Inspires new insights.”
“Internationally recognized.”
“Game-changing decisions.”
Those were not my own words.
At the time, the stories I told myself were very different. Words like “inadequate,” “bland,” and “indecisive” quietly shaped how I viewed myself professionally.
That experience taught me something important about unlearning. The behaviors, assumptions, and stories we hold onto are not always aligned with how trusted people genuinely experience us.
Simplifying Perspectives
Professional reputation is deeply human. It is built through conversations, experiences, observations, and trust developed over time.
Today, many professionals rely heavily on AI-generated summaries, polished branding statements, and carefully optimized profiles to define their value. While those tools may help articulate experience, they cannot replace the perceptions formed through real human interaction.
Professional reputation analysis creates an opportunity to calibrate the stories we tell ourselves with the stories trusted stakeholders consistently experience.
One of my biggest takeaways from this process was realizing that I unconsciously used each reputation tagline as a trampoline for my next level of growth. Today, I do this much more consciously. I actively reflect on the qualities others experience in me and use those insights to stretch myself further as a leader, advisor, and coach.
Which story about yourself might no longer be serving your growth?
Getting Started
If you want to explore your own reputation gap, begin with curiosity instead of self-criticism.
- Ask a few trusted colleagues or clients how they would describe your leadership impact.
- Pay attention to recurring themes and words instead of isolated feedback.
- Reflect on where your self-perception may underestimate the value others consistently experience.
Sometimes the most important unlearning journey is not about changing who you are. It is about learning to trust the evidence of your impact.
A Coaching Opportunity
Professional reputation evolves over time.
Periodically reflecting on how others experience your leadership can strengthen self-awareness, increase clarity in your positioning, and help you identify new opportunities for growth.
If you are curious about exploring your own professional reputation analysis or leadership positioning journey, I would love to continue the conversation.
Until next time,
Katy Caroan
Empowering Leaders to Stay in Demand
