Your Reputation is Your Portfolio: Building Social Capital

(Torrence-ism) You can lose every dollar in the bank, every asset, and every title, but you can't survive without your name.

Forget the idea that success is purely about what's in your bank account. The real infrastructure of your career is your Reputation, which functions as your credit score in the marketplace. A high credibility score grants you a Trust Premium—you get faster approvals, better opportunities, and fewer background checks. Every time you deliver on a promise, hit a deadline, or execute a thoughtful follow-up, you are depositing reliability into this reputation account. If you operate with inconsistency or break promises, you impose a severe Skepticism Tax on yourself, forcing you to spend months in due diligence just to secure the same opportunities. Consistency builds credit, and the market values predictable trustworthiness far more than sporadic brilliance.