Be Encouraged Against All Odds; Reputations Can Improve and Opportunities Can Be Restored
An example provided from which to learn
How about this for a stunning reputation victory when all likely seemed lost — an executive has a lifetime ban lifted by his industry’s ultimate authority and power.
Here’s the story, professional analysis and advisory for you:
“Former Atlanta Braves (Major League Baseball) general manager John Coppolella has been reinstated by Major League Baseball, more than five years after he was given a lifetime ban by commissioner Rob Manfred,” Buster Olney reported at ESPN.
Let’s stop for a moment and briefly talk about that news. Coppolella was reinstated from a lifetime ban, meaning that MLB and Manfred had no intention — zero —to allow Coppolella back into the industry yet after five years it happened.
Five painful, traumatic years and stress and anxiety that was endured leading up to it had to be miserable but that punishment ended, that reputation and contempt, over.
This shows what can be possible when appearances are gloomy or worse, catastrophic, in relationships and careers.
I’ll talk about how that happened shortly.
Now, more Olney:
“Coppolella, 44, was kicked out of the sport in the fall of 2017 after it was determined that he had grossly violated rules related to the signings of international players,” Olney writes. “After Coppolella applied for reinstatement, MLB officials determined that he had substantively endeavored to improve himself, according to sources.”
This is a very important point not to be breezed by, forgotten or dismissed. The offender in this story did do wrong yet he made a conscious decision to do the unattractive, tedious, hard, sustained, significant work with himself to improve himself.
Then, he applied for mercy and reinstatement.
The governing body (MLB officials) respected the steps that the person in question took and the improvements made and because of the combination of the penalty paid (the ban), the humility shown and the personal development focus pursued, brought the violator’s career (and opportunities) back from the dead.
That’s a powerful example of what can be achieved when this strategy is adopted and implemented. The sobering facts and truth are that the vast majority of people, whether in government, business or within any type of relationship (professional or personal) resist choosing and committing to this path, thus they don’t get — or make possible — the desired breakthroughs, against all odds.
Reputations can often improve, even in the messiest of experiences because trust can be regained, making desirable opportunities more likely.
To experience this type of outcome however, people have to do what is (quietly) expected as well as do what is asked and demanded of them, which is where many — due to anxiety, fear or jumbo-sized ego — prevent big reputation improvements.
Michael Toebe is a reputation consultant, advisor and communications specialist at Reputation Quality, assisting individuals and organizations with further building reputation as an asset or ethically protecting, restoring or reconstructing it.
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