Jocko Podcast - Jocko Underground: The Importance of Your Reputation

Episode Date: December 31, 2021

The importance of your reputation.Jiu Jitsu private lessons?Starting new business ventures.How to move into a newly desired position at work effectively.Managing the clash of cultures at work.More advice on leading people with more experience than you.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/jocko-podcast/exclusive-content

This is the Jocko Underground Podcast number 38, Echo Charles, sitting here with me. Echo Charles. Yes, sir. I'm going to use your situation, let's say, to sort of frame up a conversation possibly. Maybe we get right through it. Maybe we don't. Maybe just a topic. But thinking of reputation, no, the reputation in the SEAL team is very important.

I have fun with your reputation. You know, meaning I kind of have presented a reputation for you against your will in some cases of this level of cruising and relaxing and maybe not super overly concerned about work or anything like that. First of all, has that ever bothered you? No. No. Okay. Second of all, if it did bother you, how would you handle it? And I'm going to answer that right now.

If it bothered you, the way to handle it would be the way you're handling it right now. So even if it bothered you right now secretly, and you were like, no, it doesn't bother me. That's the way to handle it. So this is my advice. Right? Keep it up. Yeah. If someone's harassing you about something.

or you're they're doing something saying something and you don't like it the worst thing you could do is let everyone know that you don't like it this is like lesson day one of the series if you show that something bothers you you're gonna that's gonna stick if you don't let it show that then people will move on because it gets boring yeah if I started if I was making funny you all the time actually the only reason I keep teasing you about this stuff is because it's funny you laugh I laugh we have we know we're fun it's funny if you weren't laughing and I was then I probably We probably would have moved on to something else to try and harass you out and front try and find them some little some little chink in the armor to get through. So reputations. If someone is in a situation where their reputation isn't what they want it to be, how do you course correct that? I'm going to say first of all, you got to kind of own it. Meaning, hey, the reason I have this reputation is something that I'm doing is earning me this reputation. A lot of times people think that, you know, everyone just says that about me. They're against me.

They're trying to make me look bad. And what is this? This is the opposite of extreme ownership. We're blaming other people. Which means you're not going to make any adjustments to whatever it is you're doing that's earning you this reputation in the first place. So your reputation didn't appear out of thin air. Your reputation actually came from something that you did. unintentional, intentional, knowing, unknowing, but you did something that made people focus on this aspect of you.

And that little aspect is now turned into a reputation. If you deny it, that's not me. No, that's not the right move. We have to actually take ownership of the reputation that we got. And if there's adjustments that need to be made to it, we need to adjust our behavior in order to adjust our reputation. Reputation is strategic, meaning it's a long-term item. You can do things tactically that can help your reputation, that can hurt your reputation, but over time, you have to maintain the long-term, the long game on reputation.

You can't be a slacker, a slacker, a slacker, work hard one day and think your reputation is going to be good. You can't be angry, temper, emotional, and then one day try and act calm and you think your reputation can be it doesn't work like that. It doesn't work like that. It's reputation is a strategic thing that you need to think about and you need to act strategic when it comes to how you care yourself and how it's going to impact your. reputation. That's the way it works. So if you notice or you start to you start to feel like your reputation is not where you want it to be, assess own it, assess what corrections you need to make. By the way, I don't recommend radical changes where, you know, I've been lazy, I've been lazy, I've been lazy, and one day I just come in and start working ultra hard. Because people,

Don't I'm not saying you can't do that but it's going everyone's going to kind of feel that everyone's going to kind of be like oh It doesn't seem like a lasting thing. It's not it's a tactical move but not a strategic move It's a tactical move. It's not a strategic move if you say oh Hey let me pick up that other shift Continually you know let me take this let me take that extra shift for the long haul. Oh you got that little project? I can take that thing You want to go and say I got the new shift. I got this. I got this I got this I got this that no it's too much people don't don't people don't believe it it's like a fad diet yeah right hey I I'm only I'm going on the carnivore diet right I'm a carnivore now I'm a carnivore now

it's like dude you you just got done with a freaking you know ice cream cake no one believes you no one believes you a whole ice cream a whole ice cream did you have ice cream cakes growing up oh what's ice is that like an Oreo cookie ice cream cake? Does that count? I don't know, but when I was a kid, it was a thing. Yeah, yeah. You could go to a, I think we got them from Carvel. Have you heard of Carvel?

It was an ice cream kind of store. You could get an ice cream cake, which is basically the thing in the shape of an ice cream. The thing in a shape of a cake, but it's ice cream. And there's some kind of crust scenario happening. You know what? Yes.

So here's the thing. This is going to side note, but it's important, I think, for us. So two things. First off, when I had COVID, I ate an ice cream cake or Reese's, I think. It was like a peanut butter ice cream. Yeah, that's what I thought. But you couldn't taste your smell. This was before I knew I had COVID, by the way, it was for Thanksgiving.

So I'm eating it. I'm like, this is very under freaking like, overwhelming, underwhelming cake. This underdelivered, this is not a good ice cream cake from what it looks like, right? Because it didn't taste good. It tastes sweet, but that was it. I couldn't taste a peanut butter, you know, what I've come to expect. And so whatever. So that's how I remember.

Okay, ice cream cake. That's an ice cream cake. But when I think about it, there's, yeah, there's, okay, so there's a place on Kauai called Kiyokie's Paradise. I recommend. Anyone who goes to Kauke's paradise, I recommend. Anyone who goes to Kaukes, Southside. By the way. Ice cream shop?

What? No. Dessertrish. Dinner place. Oh, dinner place. Yeah, nice dinner place. They got live music and stuff sometimes like the Hawaiian music stuff. Really good, really good spot.

This is what my wife does. Actually, I shouldn't tell, I shouldn't tell this secret, but this is what she does. When we plan a trip, let's say. let's say it's like a few months in advance, she'll call Kiyokis and make a reservation for every night, us being there. That way you're guaranteed to have a reservation. And then if we plan not to go,

she'll call and cancel it on the day of her day before. How hard is it to get a reservation? Well, right now it's very hard. Okay. So, yeah, you kind of can't if you're like, you're on quiet, hey, let's go tomorrow or whatever. You can't really get one anymore. Either way, side note.

So one of their desserts that you can get is called a hula pie. And it's an ice cream cake. Okay. And it's like this high. Meaning it's one foot tall. For those of the people that are just listening. It's very high, yes. And then you can tell it's part of a big, huge cake that you get one slice.

But it's for the whole table. It's not a one person gig. Depending on who you are. Yes, sir. You're correct. You're right. But that is a good, good ice cream cake. It's called the hula pie.

Okay. So if we're eating. You're the one who brought up the ice cream cake. No, no, no. It's a good point. Like you said, I think, like you said, you thought this was important. Apparently it is. So one minute I'm eating a hula pie.

Like legit, think about this. You and me, we're in Hawaii. Every day we're going to. Keokis. Every day we're going to Keukis. I'm getting a hula pie on the daily. Yes, sir. And then one day I wake up and I go, hey, I'm a carnivore.

What is your level of belief in my scenario? Okay. I believe it when I see it kind of, it's not high. Yeah, very low. In fact, it's kind of, it's almost disrespectful. for me to even say that to you. It's almost like I'm just a liar. Yes, right?

Yeah, a little bit, yeah. It's almost like this is just not believable. Yeah. So we have to think about that same thing. So it ends up being important, the hula pie ends up being important. Because if we're eating hula pies, and then all of a sudden we're saying,

we're carnivore doesn't work. If we are lazy and all of a sudden we're trying to act like we're the hard worker, it's not going to work either. It's not going to work overnight. Now, look, I tell you I'm a carnivore and then, you know, we go out for dinner that night. You're like, hey, you're going to get the hula pie.

And I go, no, man, I'm going to get chicken wings. Yeah, because I'm a carnivore now. And you go, okay, you might have a little bit more belief, but it's not going to change it overnight. So it's the same thing with your reputation. Your reputation is not going to change overnight. It's going to take time. It's going to take effort.

It's going to take strategic thinking. You're going to have to, you're going to also have to think about what you do tactically. This is, you hear me talk about how. a tactical mistake can have a strategic impact. Right? So Abu Ghraib prison, these guys and girls, these men and women,

I guess, are not kids, but these men and women that put these insurgents and terrorists and suspected terrorists into these body positions and took pictures and all the stuff that they did with them,

all that stuff that they did with them in Abu Ghraib. Look, that's a tactical situation. They're in a prison. It's not a strategic move to do that. They weren't trying to say win the war with these, by stacking these guys and stripping them naked and putting a dog leash, that wasn't good. That wasn't a strategic move, but it had a strategic impact, a negative strategic impact. So it's the same thing with our reputation.

If you make dumb tactical moves that might not seem like a big deal to you, you might kind of shrug your shoulders and say, whatever. Oh, it doesn't matter if I just cut this corner right now. But if that little corner that you cut, some people, you know what's a big one? Like dishonesty, right? If you're dishonest about something that you don't realize. That is a little excerpt of what we are doing on the Jocko Underground podcast. So if you want to continue to listen, go to jocco underground.com and subscribe. And we're doing this.

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