You don’t really know what people are saying about you until you ask. We can spend all our time wondering, assuming, guessing, anticipating what other people are thinking or saying about us. This leads us to take actions based on these assumptions, all of which may be completely wrong. So my recommendation is to ask, always.

You can do this both formally and informally. You get formal feedback reviews at work and if you are undertaking any sort of training you should get feedback on progression as well. Asking questions of colleagues and friends will give you informal feedback.

What do you think of my idea?

Could my approach to that have been better?

Where do you think I’m letting myself down at the moment?

What do you really appreciate when we work together?

What makes me your best buddy?

How can we get along better?

What are my best assets/skills/talents?

What makes me unique in your judgement?

What are the best things that I bring to this role?

I thought I’d ask Google today what people were saying about me and guess what I found. I found a comment I made on a BBC news article about ideas, creativity and blue sky thinking.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8645018.stm

Enjoy.