UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown this week has asked for global markets to adopt a moral, value-based system of corporate governance. After the stock markets suffered their largest ever one-day fall, values like 'responsible risk-taking' and 'work ethic' are what seems to have been missing. As a result, the reputations of a variety of stakeholders, from government to banks to a public taking more and more personal credit card debt has suffered. Values underpin any personal and corporate reputation. Here's how it works...

As I've said many times before, your reputation is what people see, think, do and feel when they come into contact with you or your name. There are ten strategies to build your reputation, but whichever one you take, you have to track it back through your personal brand to your inner character and values. In my bestselling book How to Build Your Reputation, I explain how your inner qualities manifest themselves in your personal brand. This personal branding is how everything you have on the inside manifests its way on the outside.

The way you walk, talk and look is your personal brand. The car you drive, the clothes you wear and the house you live in is your personal brand. Your business card, your website, your elevator speech and your sales brochures are your personal brand. They reflect (or at least should do) what's going on with you on the inside. When you adopt a strong work ethic on the inside, you can see how that would come out in your attention to detail and your desire to do a great job for your clients. Now pay attention. This is where your reputation is formed.

When people see all of those cues, messages, signals, thoughts and values come out, they form an impression of you. If it's the second, third or more time they connect with you, they reinforce or undermine the previous perceptions of your personal brand. Here's three things you must do to ensure the best possible 'congruence' and authenticity between your inner values/character, your personal brand and your personal reputation:

1. Define and adopt a clear set of values you will live by. No more than five. I list 60 to choose from in my book. For example, many people pick 'family' as a value, yet continue to work long hours. They make the excuse that they're providing for the family. But what your kids want is more love, not more toys!
   
2. Ensure your 'moments of truth' conform to those values. Moments of truth are when people come into contact with you or your name. This is when perceptions are made. Think about what you want people to think, do, feel or say when those moments of truth occur. Build your personal brand around that.
3. Think long term. In the dictionary, a value is described as a principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable. Something like that doesn't happen overnight. Be in it for the long haul and see your inner values as a process to be honed rather than an event to be completed. When you do that, your personal brand will be enhanced and your personal reputation will soar!