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No matter what stage of life you’re at, how you respond to challenges, interact with people and what you can achieve in certain situations all play a part in establishing your professional reputation.

This reputation (also known as your brand) develops over time, and even though you may not agree with it, it’s usually an accurate reflection of your actions up to this point in your life. Of course, there are exceptions, but as a general guide, it’s valuable to understand what your general reputation is so that you can start to plan whether that reputation will help you achieve your vision.

In my career move to Deloitte, I had to confront the reality that I’d tarnished my brand, and I had to address it. The good news is that you can actively change your reputation to one that’ll help you achieve your goals.

Reputations can form quickly (especially negative ones) based on extreme events. Consider how fast an accountant’s reputation changes if he’s charged with fraud – it means he or she can’t be trusted.

You develop other aspects of your reputation, such as integrity and work ethic, more slowly, based on your consistent actions.

Understanding your reputation allows you to frame how others perceive you as a businessman so that you can start to plan what improvements or changes you’ll need to make to reach your goals.

Poor work ethic, gossiping and not getting projects driven to completion are just some of the things that can stick with you for a lifetime and hold you back in your career.