As a teacher the only thing you have that can make or break you is your reputation. How you conduct yourself not only with your boss, but also with your students, parents and fellow faculty members says a lot about you. This fact is key: If you are not conducting yourself in a professional manner, then you are not only jeopardizing what you are worth to your employer, but also jeopardizing your very employment.

Here are ways to make sure your reputation is impeccable:

1.     Always—and I mean always—be on time! Even better, always be 15 minutes early. Being late is the one factor that will drive your boss crazy. I don’t care if you are the best teacher on the planet, if you can’t be on time I wouldn’t hire you for anything and I wouldn’t recommend you to anyone either. In the dance school business, classes must start and end on time. Our clients are way too busy, running around shopping, picking up other kids and working, so that if her child’s class is always starting late or finishing late this will be an irritant. If you are always late this will signal to your employer that you are not serious, that you can’t be counted on and that you are unreliable. Not the kind of reputation you need to have following you around. If you have been late in the past, make it your business to change or you will never achieve the kind of success you truly desire.

2.     Do not befriend the students. This is so important nowadays. The last thing you want is for your students to know all about your personal life. This is a surefire way for you to have problems with the students, their parents and your boss. I hear about teachers emailing students, sending them text messages and having them be friends on one of the social networks. BIG mistake! If you have a Facebook page I recommend that you set one up just for you as a teacher where you can promote your classes, your work and your students. Use it as a tool to relay messages about who you are as a professional. Do not friend a student on your personal account where they can see you partying, making off color comments, read about your daily woes or see what you do behind closed doors. I like Facebook, but it can be very dangerous to you as a professional if you are not careful. In any event, do you really want the students you teach to know what you are doing? This will not enhance your reputation as a professional. If you need to have 18 and unders as your friends, you better find a new line of work!

3.     Always be prepared. This may take you some time each week, but it will be a BIG key to your classes being successful. Think of it this way. If you were a surgeon, would you walk into surgery without any thought to what procedure you were going to follow? Of course not! Make a plan each week and proceed with the plan. Make it flexible so you can change direction if you need to, but I recommend that you never go into a class not knowing what you are going to do. A well thought out class plan will make you a star at your school!

4.     Continue to learn! The fact that you are a DanceTeacherWeb member is proof that you are serious about continuing your education. It is easy to get a bit burned out if you are not careful. And it can come at the most inopportune time! Keep your creativity alive by finding out what your hot buttons are. Aside from watching dance, training videos and shows, find out where you are most at peace with yourself. Where do you feel the most freedom? Go there and bring a note pad and just think! You may even want to bring along you iPod with some music on it that stirs your creative juices. Go to seminars, conferences and any other place where like-minded professionals gather so you can network, exchange ideas and learn. The best teachers are the ones who never stop learning!

I love this Zig Ziglar quote:

'It’s not your aptitude that determines your altitude it’s your attitude!'

Now let that sink into your head for a while. The question, is how is your attitude? Do you need an attitude adjustment? The good news is that you are in control of your thoughts, acts and deeds! Look, the reality is that if you are not happy where you are working you need to get together with your employer and see if you can work it out. If not it is probably best for all parties that you move on. No one is putting a gun to anyone’s head saying that you must work for them. If you are bitter, unhappy and unproductive, who is that really hurting? Mostly your reputation!

There is an old saying that 'your reputation will proceed you.' Since it gets there first, let the news about you be a headline that reads ' You are a wonderful, caring person who is reliable, professional and top self in every way!' Now how does that sound!?