What is Your Image Saying About You?

People judge our character, values, and personality- among many other things- based on how we act and behave in public. It makes me think about the old adage, “Think before you act”. Let’s be honest, we don’t always follow that saying when it comes to our personal lives. Most of us know or should know that how we behave at work will have an impact on our future careers- good or bad. For some reason, we are not always cognizant of this when it comes to how we behave when we go out to a restaurant, go to a party, are out shopping, or are interacting with our personal network.

I can’t turn on the radio anymore without hearing about some type of joke or negative news segment about Tiger Woods’s affair. Here is an extremely talented athlete who has also made a fortune on his public image. Rolemodel.net, a website created to bring about positive role models for youth, even nominated Tiger Woods as a one of their “celebrity role models" for young people. As humans, we are not perfect- we do make mistakes. However, when we are known in the public eye as role models, we do have to make sure that our public image is consistent with our personal values and behavior. So no matter how talented he is in golf, our recent knowledge of his adultery is preceding all of his professional success.

How many times have you met someone who appears to be very professional and sophisticated but after getting to know them better, their true side starts shining through? Maybe they started using profanity around you or had one too many cocktails and let loose in a way you had never expected. They may think that their informal demeanor has brought the two of you closer but really, you have now lost respect for them as a professional. As much as we don’t want to think that how we behave when we are out with friends or ,in Tiger's case, behind closed doors has nothing to do with advancing in our career or finding our ideal partner in life- it does. So does that mean that you have to change who you are so other people will respect you or think positively of you? Not necessarily, but it does mean that you need to think about how your actions and behavior, both in public and behind closed doors, will impact your future.