By Nancy Foster
One of the reasons I went into freelancing was the freedom it promised. Freedom from the tyranny of incompetent bosses. Freedom from the shackles of internal politicking. Freedom to do the job the way I think best and contribute something positive to an organisation.
And freelancing does offer that. In spades.
Of course there are still politics to be played and people you'd rather not work with that you....well....have to find a way work with. The plus is that you are always aware that you are only there for a limited period of time so you can minimise all that peripheral noise and just get on with useful delivery. And then the contract ends. The project completes. You're not tied down. You can walk away. You can take a couple of months off to paint the garden fence or walk the Great Wall of China.
The one thing I didn't count on with this nomadic work life is that it can get pretty lonely too.
Often I'm brought in, like many others, because things are broken and need to be fixed. And that involves change. People, by and large, hate change. Which, be default, often makes them, at the very least, dislike my role quite a lot.
Now, I'm not being a cry baby here but sometimes, it would be nice, in amongst the sea of resentment or ambivalence, to find a friendly face. Someone who I can get a coffee with and have a good rant. Someone who gets the nuances and idiosyncrasies of being a freelancer working on a project, managing a client and battling ancient IT systems that won't support any Apple product, ever. And perhaps most importantly, someone who can say 'sounds like you're on the right track' or 'have you thought about.…?' or just 'me too!'
I know how much value I get from the shared listening and learning the three of us regularly do at Master Freelancer. My vision – that thing that keeps me motivated about MF is that we can recreate that for all those freelancers out there experiencing similar highs and lows. Somewhere for us all to download our individual frustrations. Somewhere to share best practice and give each other guidance, support and the odd pep talk. Somewhere to discuss plans to walk the Great Wall of China or finally get around to painting that fence.
Now, I'm not being a cry baby here but sometimes, it would be nice, in amongst the sea of resentment or ambivalence, to find a friendly face. Someone who I can get a coffee with and have a good rant. Someone who gets the nuances and idiosyncrasies of being a freelancer working on a project, managing a client and battling ancient IT systems that won't support any Apple product, ever. And perhaps most importantly, someone who can say 'sounds like you're on the right track' or 'have you thought about.…?' or just 'me too!'
I know how much value I get from the shared listening and learning the three of us regularly do at Master Freelancer. My vision – that thing that keeps me motivated about MF is that we can recreate that for all those freelancers out there experiencing similar highs and lows. Somewhere for us all to download our individual frustrations. Somewhere to share best practice and give each other guidance, support and the odd pep talk. Somewhere to discuss plans to walk the Great Wall of China or finally get around to painting that fence.
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