Recently, we've witnessed remarkable 'falls from grace' of two giants who had previously enjoyed superb reputations - Tiger Woods and Toyota.  Reputation, roughly defined, is the sum total of all your work - creativity, outreach, public relations, communications, actions, everything. Reputation is why people buy from you in the case of Toyota, and why they buy the products and services you recommend, in Tiger's case.

In our new book* we refer to reputation as the 'New Bottom Line'. This doesn't mean, of course, that reputation has replaced the need for bottom-line profits. Rather, it highlights the all-important fact that yesterday's profits are in no way a guarantee for tomorrow's profits. Your ability to earn a profit tomorrow, and through the coming years, is dependent upon your reputation.

As Tiger and Toyota have found out the hard way, reputations are earned over time by hard work and careful planning - but oh, how quickly they can be damaged.

A damaged reputation makes for a good headline, while a story about a hard-working business building its reputation typically does not. So, I thought I'd share a great story with you.  

I run with Charles Anton, CEO of Anton's Cleaners. Anton's Cleaners is one of the top cleaners in the Northeast and has collected second-hand winter coats for charity in its 44 stores for many years. They clean the coats free of charge and donate them to charities such as The Salvation Army, Goodwill, church groups, homeless shelters and schools. The collection and distribution of these coats, over 600,000 of them, has taught many elementary school and middle school children about the importance of giving, charity and taking care of your fellow man. 

As Charles told me, the children learn about giving something tangible and meaningful from an early age. What a wonderful life lesson to learn from a business. Of course, as a side benefit of creating a great reputation, the children's parents get familiar with the Anton's business and that connection translates into long-time customers. A perfect example of the value of a great reputation.

• We'll be making a more formal launch of our book soon, although our publisher Greenwood Press and Amazon are already taking pre-orders!

Normally, we review a recently published book in this space. However, this month, I'd like to share some uplifting news from a piece in Strategy & Business entitled 'The New Golden Age" by Mark Stahlman, a Wall Street technology strategist.  (Excited about reading something upbeat concerning the future?) Strategy & Business article  - It's free to register.  If you enjoy this newsletter, you should probably subscribe to Strategy & Business as well - substantial concepts with great research.