"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it." -- Warren Buffett

Building a reputation that others will believe and invest in requires an authentic commitment to earning good faith through words and actions.

For our next #ConnectChat, taking place Tuesday, July 31, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. EDT, veteran PR professional Chris Komisarjevsky will discuss why reputation is among our most powerful assets, and how you can develop the type of reputation that will help you achieve success.

In his new book, “The Power of Reputation: Strengthen the Asset That Will Make or Break Your Career” (AMACOM; April 12, 2012), Komisarjevsky shares ideas, strategies and step-by-step action plans to help you:

• Learn from experiences that shape character, including being willing to work hard at me­nial tasks, and actively seek out role models;
• Clearly define your values, commit to acting on them, and cultivate the confidence to be open about who you are (and who you are not) at work and in public;
• Place a priority on caring about what people think and feel, sharing information, treating everyone with respect, and giving team members and support players the credit they deserve;
• Speak straightforwardly, without spin and from the heart, and tap into the power of clarity and praise to engage and motivate others;
• Make time to really listen to and talk with others, face to face, and strive to understand different per­spectives and concerns; and more.

Komisarjevsky earned his own reputation over his 35 years in the public relations field. In 2005, he retired as worldwide chief executive officer of Burson-Marsteller, a leading global public relations firm with offices in 81 countries.

He formerly served as professor and chair in public relations at Boston University in the College of Communications, and now consults and lectures on a variety of public relations topics. A father of nine children, he is the coauthor, with his wife Reina, of “Peanut Butter and Jelly Management: Tales from Parenthood, Lessons for Managers” (AMACOM, 2000).

To join the chat, just follow the #ConnectChat hashtag to view all updates from @CKomisarjevsky, @ProfNet and the rest of the chat participants. We'll start off the chat with a few questions to get the conversation going, but feel free to ask away at any point.

If you do not have a Twitter account or won’t be able to make it to the chat, you can find a recap on ProfNet Connect the following day. To view past #ConnectChat recaps, click here.