Why I do what I do?

Disputes, conflict, crisis and reputation became a fascinating psychological study for me about around 2004. Life situations and the stress and pain from them inspired my already natural curiosity to become a passionate pursuit.

I knew public relations at that time yet not conflict management and conflict resolution, or the psychology behind reputation attacks and what makes them successful. I had to learn, for my own sanity. This led to deep dives into psychology books (two apiece by George K. Simon and Ronald T. Potter-Efron especially), articles and conversations with experts in the field of psychology, emotions and behavior (primarily, Bill Eddy at the High Conflict Institute).

That led to pursuits of education and training that you can find on the “About RQ page” of this website.

During this time I began to volunteer taking questions online from people and those inquiries came frequently and the replies to my responses were very flattering. It felt good to be helpful in the midst of my own trauma, pain and suffering and provide insights and encouragement that resonated with people.

By the time I ended that endeavor, I had the respect and appreciation of a following, a high grade and status among my peers doing similar work, and pages of positive, very kind reviews.

That stoked the fires of my passion and drove more interest in learning and serving others in matters of conflict and crisis and how it affected their reputation.

Simultaneously, I noticed how often people 1) didn’t notice how their thinking and behavior was negatively impacting their reputation and interactions or relationships with other people and 2) how sometimes, people’s reputation was assaulted and abused through little or no fault of their own.

Both groups were confused, stressed and at a loss for what to do next that would be helpful. At this point, I saw opportunity and began to slowly, part time, offer services to assist people.

Over the years, I have devoted more time and effort towards this commitment, to help people gain clarity, greater understanding and guidance to help them further build reputation as an ‘asset’ and ‘wealth’ and when necessary, ethically and successfully protect, restore or reconstruct reputation health, strength and value.

Michael Toebe
Founder and Specialist at Reputation Quality