YOUR REPUTATION IS YOUR RESUME: WHY TRUST MATTERS MORE THAN TALENT

Gen Z & Millennial Leadership | Motivation & Career Growth Podcast

Hosted by Dr. Jason Wiggins

Your reputation is your resume, and it may be the single biggest factor determining your career growth, leadership opportunities, promotions, and long-term professional success.

In this powerful episode of the Gen Z & Millennial Leadership Podcast, Dr. Jason Wiggins reveals why trust matters more than talent, why reliability often beats raw intelligence, and how leaders make hiring and promotion decisions when the pressure is high and the stakes are real.

The truth is that your career is being discussed in rooms you may never enter. Executive leaders, hiring managers, business owners, and decision-makers are constantly evaluating one critical question:

Can we trust this person?

While many professionals focus on building resumes, collecting certifications, earning degrees, and acquiring technical skills, the most successful leaders understand that professional reputation, credibility, emotional intelligence, accountability, and consistency are what create lasting career opportunities.

In this episode, you'll learn about the "Reputation Gap"—the difference between how you see yourself and how others experience you. You may believe you're decisive, while others experience impatience. You may believe you're passionate, while others experience unpredictability. Understanding this leadership blind spot can dramatically improve your influence, executive presence, and career advancement.

Dr. Jason Wiggins shares practical leadership lessons, workplace examples, and actionable strategies to help Gen Z professionals, millennials, managers, supervisors, entrepreneurs, and executives build a reputation that opens doors before opportunities are ever posted.

Whether you're pursuing a promotion, developing leadership skills, building executive presence, improving workplace relationships, or preparing for the next stage of your career, this episode provides a roadmap for becoming the trusted professional leaders want on their team.

In This Episode, You'll Discover:

✔ Why your reputation is your most valuable career asset

✔ How hiring managers really make promotion decisions

✔ Why trust is the ultimate leadership currency

✔ The hidden cost of inconsistency in the workplace

✔ How emotional intelligence impacts career growth

✔ Why reliability often beats talent

✔ The danger of becoming the high performer people "manage around"

✔ How accountability builds long-term credibility

✔ Leadership habits that create trust and influence

✔ Practical strategies to strengthen your professional reputation immediately

✔ The connection between trust, leadership, and career advancement

✔ How executive presence is built through everyday actions

Your reputation arrives before you do and remains after you leave. The question is simple:

What is your reputation saying about you when you're not in the room?

Listen now and discover how to build the trust, credibility, and leadership presence that accelerate professional success.

🎙 Subscribe for weekly episodes on leadership development, career growth, workplace success, professional development, emotional intelligence, management skills, and personal growth.

⭐ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

📢 Share this episode with someone who wants to earn more opportunities, build stronger leadership skills, and create a reputation that works for them instead of against them.

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Transcript

Welcome And Why It Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, friends. Welcome to your Motivational Zen Z and Millennial Expert Podcast. I am your host. My name is Dr. Jason Wiggins. And before we get started today, I want to sincerely thank everyone of you for joining me. Whether you're listening on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Amazon Music, or whatever you enjoy your favorite podcast, thank you for investing your time in yourself, your growth, and your future. We are approaching nearly 200 episodes together, and every week our mission remains absolutely the same. Helping Gen Z and millennials and anyone that really wants to understand how to move forward and understand actually how success works in the real world. We don't talk about motivational slogans, social media quotes. We provide advice that will actually work. Not just feel good advice that disappears by tomorrow morning, but real world leadership, real world careers, real world opportunities. The lessons that help people advance professionally, become stronger leaders, improve relationships, influence, and build lives that they can be proud of, and you can be proud of. And if you've been with me for a while, thank you for continuing this journey with me. You picked a great episode to join us today, because today we're discussing something that may have a huge impact on you and your future than just a degree. A bigger

Reputation Beats Credentials

SPEAKER_00 1:45

impact than certifications, technical skills, and the resume itself. Today we're talking about reputation. Now, before you think this conversation is simply about being liked, let me stop you right there. This isn't about popularity, this is not about politics, it's not pretending about someone who you're not. It's about understanding how opportunities are actually created. Because after more than two decades in operational leadership, managing teams, leading organizations, developing leaders, hiring employees, promoting, coaching, and participating, I've learned something most people don't realize until much later in their career. The most important conversation about your future often happens when you're not in the room. Think about that. You're not there. You don't hear the conversations, you don't know what's happening. Nobody really seems to understand. It is ultimately about your presence, who you are, and that's where things sometimes you know become problematic. You don't hear the conversations that people talk about. So that is why ultimately, at the end of the day, your resume will be outshined by your reputation. Again, it is so important to realize that as a leader, a participant, being part of something special within your organization, you have to get past the resume. We're gonna focus on you, millennials, Gen Z, and make sure that you understand that your time is to shine right now. It's not about what people think about you, it's how you respond and move forward. So let me ask you something that might just make you feel a little uncomfortable. Have you ever been described in a way that made you stop and think, that's not me? That can't be how they see me. Maybe someone said that you were difficult to approach, difficult that you're not a team player, you're too quiet, you're too aggressive, you're too emotional, and your first reaction was denial. You know your effort, your personality, but here's the truth people don't always understand. Reputation is not based on the intent. It's based on the impact. Let me take you into a real world experiment, a real world moment. I remember working with a leader who was incredibly sharp, very intelligent, very capable, the kind of person who could solve problems in seconds that others struggle for within hours. But there was a pattern. In meetings, when things weren't done correctly, their tone changed. Not always loud, not always aggressive, but sharp enough that people started to hesitate before speaking. Then something interesting happened. No one told them directly, no one confronted them, but something shipped quietly in the background. They started getting left out of early conversations, not because they weren't capable, because people started managing around them. That's the reputation gap. But your impact feels like pressure. Now contrast that with another individual, not the strongest technically, not the fastest decision maker, but consistent, calm,

Intent Versus Impact In Real Life

SPEAKER_00 6:00

predictable under stress. People would say if they're in the room, we're fine. That sentence alone creates opportunity. Let me pause and ask you what version of you shows up in other people's stories when you're not present? Not what you think, but what they experience. Because that gap, and here's the hard truth most people never close that gap because they never ask. They assume perception matches the intention, but leadership doesn't work that way. Leadership is a perception and consistency, that calmness that people want to feel. If you don't define your reputation, people will define it for you. As noted before, I've been in many of those boardrooms in the background where all of a sudden you now are not the person people always think about in a positive way. You are focused on doing certain things, but ultimately the way they see you is absolutely different than maybe you want them to feel. So that's why that impact that you make is going to be vital to what people think about you in the room. Once people hear that you are the person they want to think about, then guess what? It's not the hard work that matters. It's a difference between working hard and being trusted. What is the res reputation in your resume? In your resume, what does the resume say about you? Does it talk about trust? Or does it talk about hard work? Or is it a matter of both? Organizations promote trust, not just effort alone. As we grow up, we learn about working harder, studying harder, practicing harder. But then as we become an adult in the workforce, it's more about a different lesson. It's about how organizations reward you. They reward you with the ability to have confidence in you. You're be somebody that can be reliable, predictable, and trust. So you have type of different impact and stories. So you have a high performer who might be brilliant, hardworking, driven, but then what happens? They're reactive under pressure, they suffer in their communication skills, the relationships strain, leadership has pauses and hesitancy. While another person who's a trusted professional, they're not the flashiest, they're not the loudest, they're even not the most talented. But they're calm, they're consistent, they're reliable. So if your manager had to leave tomorrow, would your name even come up? If not, why? So the key takeaway here is the goal isn't becoming the hardest worker in the room. The goal is becoming the person leadership trust within the room. So that's why people don't get opportunities because they're perfect. People get opportunities because they're trusted. They don't buckle under pressure. They are identified with their coworkers as somebody they can be led by, be focused on the big prize. So if you're looking at your abilities sometimes and why you get passed up for opportunities, is it because you don't work hard? Probably not. It's because you're not being trusted. And I think one of the key differences between what you think and what you are is how others experience you. This is where the reputation gap plays a larger role. So think about this. When it comes to your intentions versus your impact, so you might plan to work really hard. You want everybody to like you, you're a new leader within a company, and then you are trying to befriend everybody.

Trust Gets Promoted Not Effort

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Has this ever happened? Haven't you seen it? But guess what suffers? The impact that you make on others. Because if you're trying to be everybody's friend, it means you're likely not holding them accountable. And you're not making that strategic impact. So what leadership sees is somebody that great, they are able to become friends with folks, but they don't see you as a trusted person that can hold people accountable. And that's where you get bottled up in those professional blind spots. Professional blind spots are where what makes you weak? What is your kryptonite that keeps you from going to the next level? Have you ever met a senior leader that just seems to have it all together? They're polished, they walk in the room, they command the stage of the room, and people are like, this person is important. Maybe they are, maybe they're not, but that presence says they are. Come to find out, they're the CEO, they're the core individual of the organization, and everybody in the room can see it just by how they hold themselves accountable. So that reputation gap right there says they don't have any professional blind spots. That's why they're so successful. They they hold themselves up to a higher stature. When they walk into the room, everybody knows that person's got it going on. So let's look at it this way: a leader believed they were decisive. Employees experienced them in a different way. Employees experienced them as impatient, but they don't have a malicious intent. But it's that's where they have a reputation gap because people see them as somebody they're not. I'd like to share a great example of myself. Growing up, I had a reputation earlier in my career about maybe somebody that didn't value the importance of seeing themselves in a different light. Meaning I was more concerned about my look than I was about being professionally, you know, straight-up standout individual. Meaning I had a professional gap that demonstrated that I was not ready to be in a full leadership position in a high-caliber situation because I was more concerned about the look of what I presented versus the substance, the leadership that was so vital for me to be successful. Now, let's fast forward 20 years later. I've learned what those professional gaps were and have since closed those gaps. And I think with experience you could do that, but I've also seen people in the early 30s, late 20s, they can be very experienced. They don't have that professional gap because why? They focused on it so early, they matured so early, they were successful. And so when you look at what we talked about so far, about making sure that you know you are evaluated based on your trust versus your hard work, where your leadership team, your executive team can have that trust and experience and feel comfortable with what you're doing. And then you have that reputation gap where you don't have those professional blind spots. And then leaders look at you as somebody that can be a vital part of their leadership team. Remember those back rooms. Those backrooms are where you hear the leadership team going, Well, we have a bench. And where does that person stand within our bench? And a lot of times, if they're not ready, they're gonna say, Well, they're not ready yet, so we have to get them ready, or we have to find somebody else that can take their place on the bench as we continue to build our team. Once you understand how people experience you, the next question is how is trust actually built? When you think about trust,

How Trust Is Built Daily

SPEAKER_00 15:15

what do you think? Do you think it's about your actions, following through, doing the right thing when it matters most, being straightforward? These are core aspects of trust as a Gen Z and millennial, because you've seen the wool pulled over your eyes in the past, where people have said this, or you've seen social media posts about this, or what's considered news is not real news. So you've seen all this, you understand all this. That's why you want to be able to build that trust amongst your team, amongst the leadership. And trust is built in ordinary moments, not big moments, things that we do each and every day. It's about how we construct our daily lives, how we look at daily habits. What are we consistent on? Making commitments, they may be small, but then following through with those commitments. So if you see an employee and an employee asks you about something and you say you're going to follow up, you better darn well follow up. Even at the smallest commitment of not following up, that shows one thing that their request was not important. You were not, they were not important to you. Because if you show that they're the most important person in the room when they ask for something or they need a tool to help them do their job better, and you don't follow through, how does that make you look as a leader? Let's not talk about, well, I forgot, you know, I had other things, people came up to me. I don't care. Nobody cares. Leadership is about following through, making sure that the commitment that you provided to that individual is followed through. And that goes with how you act over something. The other day, it was late in the day, it was on a Friday. You want to go home. I get it. So did I. But I had an employee come into my office and they wanted to talk about things that were bothering them. And they even acknowledge it was later in the day, but it doesn't matter. So I sat there, I gave them that. Not because I had to, because it's about having professional behavior. It's about being committed to your employee as a leader. And we spent 30 minutes, much more time than I was hoping, because I did need to leave for a commitment, but I wasn't going to cut it short because it was important. And I should do that each and every time because when I do that, it's about consistency. It's about my professional behavior, my commitments to the individuals of my team, and the daily habits of doing everything right every day, being consistent. Think about this. You say you're going to return somebody's phone call. You don't. The email that you're going to promise that you don't send, medium preparation when you're not ready for a meeting, and everybody else can see it. Having respectful interaction amongst your team. And then making sure you follow up when nobody asks you to. Trust compounds like interest. What does that mean? Your reputation grows like equity. You have compounding growth. You have long-term career momentum. And then all of a sudden, you have consistency over intensity. It's not about if you're in a big battle and you have a great sales team and you're focusing on having all the sales. And then all of a sudden, you know, instead of being consistent every single month to meet your sales goal, you decide that this particular month, I'm going to give 150%. I'm going to focus. I'm going to outshine my other salespeople. And you have a great, great sales number for that month. But then the other months, you just don't do anything. And guess what? That's not consistent. That's not consistency.

Consistency Over Intensity

SPEAKER_00 20:35

You are showing intensity. The reality is leaders want consistency over intensity. They want somebody that can run the mile every single day versus being able to sprint a mile every once in a while. So the important part is year after year, you want to be dependable, you want to be reliable, you want to be professional. So if you look at your career right now as a generation Z as a millennial, if you're just still in school and you're a generation alpha and you're listening, or you're a baby boomer, Generation X, think about your story right now. Some instances, if you're younger, it hasn't been written or even started. But what it also means is you can start from scratch and really focus. Do the things that are going to be productive, that you can continue to learn from, grow, read about, knowledge is king. But if you're seasoned, you've been in the game for a while, if you're like Generation X or a baby boomer, it's not too low, it's not too late to really organize your craft and work hard. You want to slowly become everyone's first choice when it comes to being a leader, executive leader. And we talked about earlier about you know reputation. Over resume. So just because your resume says you can do all this, it doesn't mean you're going to be a great leader. What it means is you're going to be somebody that hopefully, you know, can reduce to uncertainty to senior leadership. And you know what reduces uncertainty? Trust. Yes, therefore, trust creates opportunity. If people had to choose someone dependable today, would they choose you? I want you to think about that. I want that to simmer a little bit. Would they choose you? If so, why would they? And if you're at that situation where they wouldn't, why wouldn't they? Trust grows quietly until opportunity makes it shine in front of everybody, makes it resonate, makes it visible. That is why we are here. If there's a professional blind spot right now, and you don't feel that they would choose you, and the answer is why? I want you to write that reason down right now. Why will they not choose me? Why am I not that person they want to move forward? What do I need to do differently? I want you to get one thing out of today's podcast, and that is what is that intangible reason why they will not choose you? They need somebody dependable, they need somebody consistent, they need somebody professional, they need somebody that's competent. Those are the key reflections of what people want in a leader. Let's get practical. How is reputation actually built every day? And there's some key aspects. If you've ever noticed this in a person, then you'll understand. The number one reason that people don't

Communication And Professional Presence

SPEAKER_00 24:20

get promoted or are not seen as relevant within their field, besides consistency, it's another C word. Communication. Communication is the utmost importance. If you can't communicate a message that says you are competent, you are consistent, you are the leader of the room, you do not have professional blind spots, that's where people struggle. So first and foremost, if you don't think you're a good communicator, that's where you need to improve. Be able to become a storyteller, become a person that can demonstrate the why, be empathetic, show that other people are more important than the message that you give them. That's why we have two ears and one mouth so we can listen more. You have to have that professional presence, you have to have an emotional control. You can't just fly off the handle whenever you don't feel things are going right. Have you ever met people like that? And what did that say to you? That told you that they can't control their emotions. So communication, body language, don't be having one foot out the door while you're talking to somebody. Control how you talk to them. Show that they're the most important person in the room. Because when you do that, your reputation's strong, your leadership's strong, and you can demonstrate that you are a powerful leader. Everybody that's listening to this podcast, I can say with 100% sincerity, assurety, and I can say this very proud because every one of you wants to improve. If you're listening to this podcast and you don't want to improve, then you're probably listening to the wrong podcast. Because this podcast is about motivating, it's about providing the tools, it's about seeing you who for you who you are. We're imperfect. And that's why we always have to find ways to improve ourselves. If you want to think about one thing you're known for, one habit, what is that? Following through. Imagine you have one habit following through. That makes so much sense. Every promise kept, every commitment completed, every update delivered. And guess what? Over time, people will stop checking behind them. Why? Because trust is for them. So we talk about communication, body language, professional presence, emotional control, follow-up, trust. Think about the mark that you met in anybody that you encounter today. Because they see your you as your reputation. Your reputation isn't built annually, it's built daily. And that's why the thing that we're going to talk about is the most important part of today's podcast. The cost of inconsistency. We talked about being consistent.

The Cost Of Broken Promises

SPEAKER_00 27:35

Well, trust is earned slowly, but guess what? It can drop like that of a hat. If you screw up and you lose that trust immediately, then that will happen. So let's talk about promises. Not the big promises, the small promises, the forgotten promises, the email, the update, the callback, the follow-up, the commitment. Every promise creates, any promise that's kept will demonstrate a trust deposit. But every promise broken creates uncertainty. I want to share a situation that happened recently. A highly respected employee of mine, years of incredibility, then communication disappeared during a crisis. Deadline was eventually met, but the trust was declined because there was no communication, and you didn't know what was actually going on. And that uncertainty then began to enter into the equation because you're always used to the people communicating what's going on, and then all of a sudden, all that credibility just dissipated. So that's why we're intentional creates certainty, but when you're unintentional, that creates uncertainty. Trust is earned and drops like rain falling like crazy. But then all of a sudden, it can be lost just like that. All of a sudden, every single drop of success will just dissipate because the failure of not being trusted. So when it compound long enough, not trust, then something remarkable happens. It's about the trust finally becoming visible. So opportunity often appears after trust has always already been established. And then you think about that, success often feels invisible while it's happening. But after time, success accumulates. People begin to understand, they focus, they get excited, they understand that overall leadership is a slow and steady process that is calmness. Calmness articulates to leadership, and leadership attributes to success. And when you can do that, that's where the defining picture shows. So if you've listened this far, you understand that this episode wasn't just about reputation. It was about understanding how success actually works, about how trust, professionalism, communication, the things that people don't see in the background. It's about recognizing that your future isn't determined solely by your title, your degree, your experience, or your resume. Reputation goes beyond your resume. It's influenced by something much, much deeper. It's about trust, character, consistency, the reliability, the way people experience you every single day. Remember, trust is important. But the way people experience you every single day is about what will happen when opportunity arrives. When opportunity finally shows up, people don't suddenly decide

Final Takeaways And Listener Challenge

SPEAKER_00 31:45

who you are. They revealed what they've already decided by trusting you. They start building intentionally, they keep their promises, they show up consistently, they clearly communicate, they help others succeed. This is what a true leader is built on, their reputation. Their career will compound. Your career will compound if you do these same things. When that moment comes, you want someone to say, I trust them. Their reputation is more important than any experience, schooling, whatever may have helped them get to this point. Because those three words, I trust them, can change your career. So if you took out anything from today's podcast, please, please realize consistency, communication, trust, and making sure that you have dissipated any of those professional blind spots. That will help you get to the next level. It's waiting for you, waiting for you to grab it, take control, and start defining your career with your reputation. So I want to thank you very much for listening to another episode of your motivational Gen Z and Millennial Expert Podcast, where we focus on your career blueprint and motivating you to get to where you want to be. So if you've enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe, share it with someone who needs to hear it, and leave a review on your favorite platform. So again, until next time, keep growing, keep learning, keep showing up, and keep building a reputation that speaks for you. So take care, goodbye, and we'll see you next time. Bye bye.