Reputation Roulette - Don’t Leave It To Chance
Roulette, in many ways, can be like managing your Reputation.
I’ll start by stating I’m not a betting man. However, I am intrigued by those who do, the strategies behind the games they play, and how they mitigate ‘risk’ where possible, to give themselves the best chance at ‘winning’.
Roulette, in many ways, can be like managing your Reputation. You need to know how many ‘chips’ you are taking to the table. You need to know when to play them, when to hold them, and when to double down. If you don’t step up with enough ‘chips’ in the first place, you may as well be playing Russian Roulette with your Reputation, never quite knowing how it’s all going to turn out (until it’s a bit late)!
In a game of Roulette you have many options. Unless you have a clear strategy when you step up to the wheel, it’s merely a game of luck.
Roulette Strategies include:
- Martingale – For beginners and newcomers to the wheel
- D'Alembert – For players with a large bankroll available
- Fibonacci Sequence – For experienced roulette players
- Parlay – For players who don't like taking big risks
- Double Street Quad – For those looking for larger wins
The common focus for all these strategies is that they don’t jump around too much, they don’t flip-and-flop. They are clear about their target, and in losing, they are committed to increasing the bet to cover their losses, and in doing so, increase the potential chance of a win (or at least not losing!!).
In your personal and professional lives you have regular wins and losses in regard to your reputation. What you control in regards to those wins and loses are your actions (whether physical or verbal). And this is where we need to stick to our defined strategy, so that after a reputational loss, or gain, you can be confident in the knowledge that if you stay clear and focused on your strategy, you can move through the highs, and the lows. Over time you will continue to build a robust reputation built on trust.
"Any successful strategy to protect a reputation must begin with the time, effort and energy a brand has put into cultivating the trust, admiration, and loyalty of its key constituents," writes T.J. Winick in his book Reputation Capital - how to navigate Crisis and Protect your Greatest Asset.
Your actions must always come from a genuine place, as your audience - the people you are living your narrative with - will see through ‘spin’ in an instant.
To build your ‘bank of chips’, so that you can confidently play this game, you need to have a clear strategy, with a defined end game, so that you can navigate the difficult times and make the most of the good times, and ‘cash in those chips’, if you need to. This is Reputational Capital, where you build equity in your reputation over time, to trade in/or double down when you need.
You don't need to play Reputation Roulette. It may not always be clear what the challenges you’ll face will be, but if you have a clear strategy and enough chips on the table, your chance at significant gains and success is much more likely.
Image courtesy: Pavel Danilyuk
Resources: https://www.techopedia.com/gambling-guides/roulette-strategy
