Master Your Eco-Reputation - Part 1

In a previous article we looked at the outcome of neglect when it comes to eco-consciousness. Examples like General Motors or Ford Motor Company come to mind. The reputation of a company as a measure or important factor for its success will be an important aspect of the economy in the 21st century.

At the same time the bottom line for any activity is people. What people do or do not do, what they stand for and what actions they take makes all the difference. That’s why it is important to take a look at your eco-reputation.

To start out I feel it is important to get a clear understanding what the term “reputation’ actually means. Here is a summary from references on the internet, in dictionaries and other public sources:

Reputation is the opinion of the public toward a person, a group of people, or an organization. It is an important factor in many fields, such as education, business, online communities or social status.

Reputation is known to be an ever-present, spontaneous and highly efficient mechanism of social control in societies. It is a subject of study in social, management and technological sciences. Its influence ranges from competitive settings, like markets, to cooperative ones, like firms, organizations, institutions and communities.

Furthermore, reputation acts on different levels. At the individual level, it concerns groups, communities, collectives and abstract social entities (such as firms, corporations, organizations, countries, cultures and even civilizations). It affects phenomena of different scale, from everyday life to relationships between nations. Reputation is a fundamental instrument of social order.

These definitions don’t just apply to the work reputation, but also to eco-reputation. You have one, your company has one, your school, college, university, has one. Corporation receive one from the public, and even regions and countries have eco-reputations.

In the recent past, cases have been pound where the overall reputation of an entity is different than its eco-reputation. A good example would the country of China. It is known and has the reputation of being communist, almost dictatorial, controlling, and mainly interested in economic growth. Many media outlets and politicians have pointed out that China is adding a new coal power plant to its electric network every week.

Politically, economically, and environmentally, China has the reputation of being strict, ambitious, and willing to neglect the impact on climate. When you dig a little deeper you will find out that international organizations actually give China a pretty good eco-reputation – and rightfully so.

With the beginning of the year 2008, China has become the largest producer of solar and wind energy products, not just for export, but also for installation in their own country. What most people don’t know about their eco-reputation is that they pollute the climate with the equivalent of about 5 tons per person while the US is putting about 20 tons per person into the atmosphere every year. China is very strict about this and tried to reduce the amounts further with a top down policy and alternative energy initiatives.

You can see how the reputation of a country and the eco-reputation can be significantly different. How does this apply to you?

Well, in a similar way as you need to build your reputation for any other aspect of life. If you want to be seen as dependable, the only way to gain that reputation is by following through on your promises. When you take this premise and convert it to your eco-reputation, you gain dependability by actually acting on the eco-friendly issue dear to your heart. If you ask your friends, co-workers, and family members to separate recyclable items form non-recycle ones, you need to be the role model and do it all the time, especially when they can see it, both at work and at home.

If you want to improve your reputation from wasteful to conserving, you cut down on all the things not really necessary to achieve a goal. The same is true for your eco-reputation. To achieve the reputation as an eco-conserver, you collect your organic matter and use it as part of your compost. You buy organic products because you know that they are packaged in recyclable containers or offered without packaging. You also read most of what you need online or in emails, rather than printing everything, and you don’t through advertisements and other paper products into the trash can but collect them and get them back into the production process.

Even for management and leadership, you want to walk the talk to gain your eco-reputation. That doesn’t just mean that you point out all the things mentioned above, but you encourage your team members to look for ways to develop or improve products, production and services with savings and positive outcomes for nature in mind. That builds the bridge to the eco-reputation of your company, your schools, your region, and your country.

Most important, you need to take action. Some things are obvious and others might need a little push. The free Eco-Action Plan we have developed will help you build your eco-reputation and encourage others to follow your lead.

Your eco-reputation is very similar to a first impression. Someone once said: You can never redo a first impression. If your first impression is the one of a great eco-reputation, you will be well on your path to success. Just don’t forget what Peter Drucker once said: “It takes many people easily years, if not decades to build a good (eco-) reputation, and it only takes seconds or one foolish act to ruin it.”

Don’t let that happen to you and spend some time thinking about the steps you can take to build your eco-reputation. It will set you apart and .prime you to be at the forefront of the people needed to succeed in the new green economies and societies of the 21st century.