Why Donald Trump & Hillary Clinton haven’t harmed their reputation

As we approach the November election, it is becoming common for me to get audience questions about the reputations of our candidates. In Minneapolis this week I was asked:

One of the candidates has violated at least half of the advice you just shared with us. How will that affect their reputation?

Good question.

The audience member didn’t want to name the candidate he had in mind, but my answer applied to either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Basically, both candidates have a reputation for embellishing, making statements they can’t back up, and have both been accused of lying and cheating over the years. In essence, their current behavior doesn’t depart from the reputation each has already built. 

With reputation management, it’s important to be your authentic self. Don’t try to make your reputation more polished than your actual character as you will ultimately be unable to keep up the charade. Neither Trump or Clinton has done anything (yet) that is out of character for them.

A sad state of affairs, I am sure you will agree (or troll the comments and disagree). 😉