Often times it it more how people perceive you at work that has more impact than the work you do. Of course, the work you do will also influence how people perceive you. I’ve seen perfectly capable people at work get the shaft because the general perception of them is that they’re totally inept.

An interview from Harvard Business School covers some key points, and many points that I hadn’t thought about before. Since we’re still starting off or at least early in our careers, there’s still time to start managing our image.

A short bit from the interview:

Q: How do stereotypes affect perceived professional image?

A: In the increasingly diverse, twenty-first century workplace, people face a number of complex challenges to creating a positive professional image. They often experience a significant incongruence between their desired professional image and their perceived professional image. In short, they are not perceived in the manner they desire; instead, their undesired professional image may be more closely aligned with how their key constituents actually perceive them.

It goes into more detail about the balancing act between being true while still having the desired image. It’s a little long, but has good information.

Creating a Positive Professional Image from HBS