Charlotte Beers is a legend in the advertising industry. She’s a maverick known for turning around and rebuilding top agencies including Ogilvy Mather, whose billings increased by $2 billion during her tenure. (Harvard Business School teaches a bestselling case study on leadership based on her tactics.) Now she has turned to educating women on how to become business leaders.

Her book, “I’d Rather Be In Charge,” includes valuable insights about reputation-building in the workplace.

Reputation is Something You Build Deliberately

“Reputation is the glue that holds relationships together. It’s an outward assessment of who is in there.”

“Reputation is not something you are assigned at work: you learn to build it deliberately. To change the…view of you they’re holding, you may need to be aggressive about engaging in reputation-changing actions or words.”

Reputations are Constantly Revived

“Ironically, even a mediocre reputation that’s widely known is better than “Who?” because an inadequate reputation can always be represented with no time diverted to being introduced. That’s what most well-known products go through during their brand cycle – a constant series of reintroductions.”

“Reputations ebb and flow. If yours is at low tide, keep your eyes on the horizon. Many a brand has been resurrected from the depths or given new life through an improved reputation and wide recognition.”

Happy holidays.