Most professionals I talk to want the same things: more autonomy, better projects, a seat at the table when the important decisions get made. And most of them know, at least instinctively, that doing great work is necessary — but not sufficient. What actually moves the needle is reputation. Not status. Not politics. Reputation — the story your colleagues, peers, and leaders are telling about you when you're not in the room.

Research on organizational reputation narrows it down to two factors: how good you are at your job, and how good you are at working with others. That's the full picture. And both are shaped not by a single standout performance, but by the accumulation of hundreds of small, consistent behaviors over time.

The mistake most people make when they try to manage their reputation is defaulting to politics — schmoozing up the hierarchy, taking credit for team wins, quietly distancing from failures. Sometimes it works in the short run. But nothing destroys a reputation faster than being known as someone who plays games. The better play is to build something genuine: relationships that are real, visibility that's earned, and a track record that speaks for itself.

There are five ways to do it:

• Make yourself visible — volunteer for high-profile work, and in remote or hybrid settings, find small proactive ways to keep people informed of what you're contributing.
• Make others look good — share credit generously, call out colleagues doing great work behind the scenes, and reinforce strong ideas in meetings.
• Build relationships across, not just up — your peers see how you handle pressure every day, and they're often the ones who vouch for you when opportunities arise.
• Invest in your external reputation — even small contributions to industry conversations shape how your internal colleagues see you.
• And above all, be consistent — reputation compounds through repeated behavior, not singular moments.

That last one is the hardest. It means closing the loop on small commitments. Showing up the same way on a rough week as a good one. Treating everyone — from the new intern to the CEO — with the same level of respect. Your reputation is always being built. The only real choice is whether you're building it deliberately or leaving it to chance.

If you want to go deeper on all five strategies, I put together a full video breakdown — link below.

or article or podcast​

Here's some more resources I recommend:

Unlocking Creative Collaboration: Most leaders assume creativity belongs to a select few—the folks in marketing, R&D, or wherever the whiteboards live. Everyone else executes. Josh Linkner thinks that assumption is quietly killing your team's best ideas before they ever surface. Drawing on the dynamics of jazz improvisation, Josh introduces the concept of co flow—a shared state of creative momentum that any team can build, not just the naturally gifted ones. In this conversation, we explore what collective intelligence research reveals about high-performing teams, why psychological safety is the on-ramp to real collaboration, and the five forces that drive creative synchrony. Click here to watch the interview.​

Different People Work Differently...And That's A Great Thing. You got promoted because your approach worked. That's not arrogance—that's pattern recognition. In a new keynote clip, I show that high-performing teams are built from high-performing individuals, and high-performing individuals have wildly different ways of getting things done. What looks like a collaboration breakdown is often just two people operating from completely different—and completely valid—preferences. Great leaders don't impose their preferences on their teams. They get curious about everyone else's. Click here to watch.​

Getting Your Team Aligned: Most organizational dysfunction isn’t about talent—it’s about misalignment. In my LinkedIn Learning course on aligning team goals with organizational strategy, I walk through how to connect your team’s daily work to your company’s bigger mission. You’ll learn how to clarify roles, set priorities that actually matter, stress-test your goals against strategy, and run focused huddles that keep everyone moving in the same direction. Click here to start the course.