From January 2013 posts that would normally have been posted here on TrustBite are being posted on my new blog at hannahsamuel.com.

Click the link to head over and see what’s captured my attention recently. See you there!

The festive season is a time to appreciate others, most usually by giving gifts. But giving a gift is only one way of expressing appreciation. There are other ways that may be more appropriate and make the recipient feel more valued and appreciated.

In their book The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace best-selling authors Gary Chapman and Paul White offer five forms of appreciation we might consider:

Words of Affirmation – Saying ‘Thank you’ is one of the most frequently used forms of appreciation but not everyone feels appreciated in this way. Words of affirmation may be formal or informal, verbal or written, private or public. When expressing thanks using words of affirmation take care to ensure your words are sincere and welcomed, otherwise you may be better off saying nothing at all. (more…)

Photo: Eugene Hoshiko, AP

Should singer Jennifer Lopez have toned-down her show for her Indonesian audience in Jakarta this weekend? Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world and previous performers have been criticised for being too provocative.

It seems J.Lo’s show was well received. However, feedback from audience members was mixed. One supported the changes noting the singer was ‘ … still sexy, attractive and tantalising …‘ whilst another noted ‘She should appear just the way she is. Many local artists dress … much worse.’

In toning-down her costumes and dance moves did the singer sell-out? Was she trying to be something that she isn’t? Was she inauthentic and untrue to her values? (more…)

Each month in Reputationz News I highlight what I consider to be recent reputation winners and losers. They can be people, companies or even abstract ideas. Some are fairly obvious. Others are off-beat or quirky. You may or may not agree! The lists are purely my opinion.

Check out the lists below for my pick of recent reputation winners and losers and feel free to leave a comment with nominations for the next issue if you think someone or something should be included.

Reputation Winners

Air New Zealand for clamping down on over-sized and over-weight carry-on baggage, so detested by passengers that stick to the rules, on its ‘seat-only’ and other flights. (Just saying … ) (more…)

You’re not a spammer, right? Are you sure? You might not send emails promoting performance-enhancing drugs or winning lottery numbers to hundreds of thousands of random emails, but might you be guilty of sending ‘Contact Spam’?

Contact spam is insidious and growing, and it can massively damage your reputation if you’re the sender.

It’s all those unsolicited emails, invitations, notices and newsletters sent by someone you may have exchanged business cards with when you met once, briefly, at a networking event or other occasion. Or you may have accepted an invitation to connect on a social networking site.

Either way, you haven’t explicitly given permission to receive promotional notices or emails, yet somehow you find yourself on their ‘distribution list’, being notified of everything they’re doing, and every product or service they’re selling.

So if you’re the one sending the communications out, how can you avoid being un-linked, un-friended, having your communications reported as spam, and developing a reputation for being a disrespectful contact-spammer? (more…)

Do you take people and organisations at face-value? If you do you’re not alone. Fraud is a billion dollar, and growing, industry – and for good reason. For many of us our natural reaction to information we’re presented with is to accept it at face-value.

Australia, New Zealand, and many other ‘western’ countries have reputations for having high levels of trust. When this is the case, and when we are generally truthful ourselves, we’re even more likely to take claims that are made on trust. If we operate in environments where trust is lacking or questionable we’re more likely to be doubtful or suspicious of claims that are made.

So All Black legend Jonah Lomu shouldn’t beat himself up about being duped by alleged conman Loizos Michaels. As technology becomes more sophisticated it becomes even easier for us to be duped. But scams aren’t isolated to the internet. (more…)

I’m currently in the middle of a 13-date road-show presenting a session entitled ‘The Truth about Trust”. Part of the presentation focuses on morals, ethics and integrity, so the timing of Nike’s withdrawal of sponsorship support of LanceArmstrong is very timely.

The evidence against Armstrong appears to be growing by the day with more than 1,000 pages of testimony and an apparently increasing list of former team-mates and others willing to speak about evidence of doping within professional cycling.

Armstrong’s decision not to fight the claims as the whole saga plays out is probably working against him. Many might feel that an innocent man would challenge the charges and vigorously defend himself if he were truly innocent. Armstrong clearly feels saying nothing is his best option at this stage. (more…)

As someone who speaks and writes a lot about personal and business branding from a reputation perspective, asserting that you are not your brand is probably somewhat unexpected.

Whether we’re consciously aware of it or not, every one of us has created a personal brand. The way we act and behave, the things we say, or don’t say, they all speak volumes about who we are and what we stand for. So of course, we are our brand.

When I say you are not your brand I’m referring to the fact that what’s more important, in business an in life, is not name, strapline, colour, shape or form, but values, principles, delivering on your promises and integrity. (more…)

Each month in Reputationz News I highlight what I consider to be recent reputation winners and losers. They can be people, companies or even abstract ideas. Some are fairly obvious. Others are off-beat or quirky. You may or may not agree! The lists are purely my opinion.

Check out the lists below for my pick of recent reputation winners and losers and feel free to leave a comment with nominations for the next issue if you think someone or something should be included.

Reputation Winners

Kiwis Mike Wilson and his team for channelling Kiwi land speed legend Burt Munro and smashing the world land speed record … in a 48 year old Mini Cooper S!

New Zealand’s TAB betting shop for honouring bets placed on Valerie Adams to win gold in the Olympic shotput after the original gold medallist was stripped of gold.

Agilite’s ingenious injured personnel carrier for enabling rescuers to carry an injured person to safety without having to use hands or arms. (more…)

If you’ve worked hard to create a solid reputation, the chances are you’ll probably try to protect it and consciously avoid doing anything that you think may damage it. But damaging a reputation is incredibly easy, and often we risk our reputation without even thinking about it by failing to avoid the following critical reputation-damagers.

Over Promising and Under-Delivering – It should go without saying that this is one of the most potent reputation damagers there is and yet so many businesses and individuals damage their reputation by doing this again and again, consciously or subconsciously. Know your limits, circumstances and resources and negotiate accordingly. Manage expectations effectively by being honest around deliverables rather than damaging your reputation by failing to deliver in any way.

Failing to Listen or Track-Trends – Failing to anticipate changes in customer needs and wants, or trends in your industry, will position you as irrelevant and leave you lagging behind your competitors. Keeping in touch with your existing and potential clients without being pushy or salesy, listening effectively, and tracking trends will also help you adapt to changes and keep help ensure you remain relevant. (more…)