JW Way Fundamental #15: Treasure, Protect, and Promote our Reputation

"We're all caretakers and beneficiaries of the firm's image and reputation at all times and all situations. Consider how your actions affect our collective reputation, and act in a way that brings honor to the firm. Remember, you are always an ambassador of our firm."

"The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” – Socrates

We have all heard the saying “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it,” but how does someone ensure they don't ruin an organization's reputation? By endeavoring to live up to the reputation already built by those who came before.

We are fortunate to have established fundamentals to guide our actions. Don’t be a jerk, take the high road, have fun, act with integrity—these are all little ways we can act to protect and promote Jaburg Wilk’s reputation as well as our own. We are all in a business that is contentious by nature, but we can still act in ways that promote a solid reputation as respectable and considerate professionals who are not defined by the nature of their business.

But, as my seven-year-old daughter tells me quite often, being good all the time is hard. Here is what I tell her: take a deep breath, think about your goal (for her, this usually involves swimming, ice cream, or an extra book), and think about whether your actions and/or words are going to get you closer to or farther away from your goal. And, guess what? It works, even for a little girl!

Regardless of what more specific goals we each have for ourselves, we all share the larger goal of treasuring, protecting, and promoting our firm’s reputation. This can be hard. So, take a deep breath, think about whether the actions you are about to take or the words you are about to say are consistent with treasuring, protecting, and promoting the firm’s reputation, and act accordingly. If you need further help regarding how to act, there are 27 JW Way Fundamentals to help guide your way.

Jaburg Wilk has a great reputation and is constantly endeavoring to build that reputation in the community. You can help to treasure, protect, and promote that reputation by endeavoring to act how we all desire to appear—professional, intelligent, respectful, respectable, and good at what we do. It is hard sometimes, but worth it, as it only takes the actions of one to ruin a reputation built by many.