Janeane's World

Thrilling Thursday – it is thrilling to know that good things are still possible after public humiliation. Each Thrilling Thursday throughout the month of October has been devoted to helping people survive and thrive after a major professional misfortune. The past three Thrilling Thursday articles have dealt with what to do after a business fails, what is possible after a raise is denied and how to survive a demotion. This final Thrilling Thursday of October will deal with what is possible after public embarrassment.

In the workplace, as in the world at large, reputation matters. It is important to do whatever is possible to maintain a reputation that is above reproach. Reputation will get you meetings your social connections cannot make. In many instances, a sterling reputation will get you opportunities for business that you otherwise do not qualify to obtain. Your reputation is more valuable than gold and should be treated as such. At the same time, it is a fact that sometimes things happen that cause public embarrassment and humiliation, a ding is placed in your reputation’s armor. As with so many things in life, preparation is the key to surviving public embarrassment. If you have lived your life and in such a way that you have created a good reputation for yourself, when you suffer a public embarrassment, you will be able to honestly spin it as an aberration, a thing out of the ordinary, rather than a true picture. Think about it. Almost everyone has heard the expression, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” While this is true, if you have created and maintained a good reputation for yourself, you have created a good first impression to the world and if something embarrassing happens later, you will be able to make a satisfactory argument that the public embarrassment is a thing that out of character, different from your reputation, a thing that can be ignored. No matter what the public embarrassment, ranging from ripped pantyhose and spinach in your teeth to a sexual scandal or murder charge, you can survive pubic embarrassment. As stated above, survival starts with creating and maintaining a good reputation for yourself. Survival continues with the appropriate wardrobe. When you have been publicly embarrassed, it is time to put on your big girl panties and your fake it until you make it dress and stick your head up in the air.

You survive public embarrassment by moving on, not dwelling in the awful thing that happened, but instead by moving on to the next thing. At this point you keep doing the things you did to cultivate a good reputation and move on past the embarrassing situation. You have the tools, you have the skills, you can survive public embarrassment by depending upon the same skills you have been using all your life. So, the question for you this Thrilling Thursday is what are your tips for surviving public embarrassment?