6 Things a Freelancer Needs to Be

March 14th, 2010

A while back I read something called The Cohen-Miller Report: The 6 Core Attributes That Make a Team “Click”.  The thinking impressed me, how it distilled the traits necessary to prepare a creative team for success. The way Emily Cohen expressed it,

While there are many important aspects that influence a great team … six core attributes … are particularly important when you have right and left brain personalities working together:

• cheerleader
• industry activist
• tech guru
• emotional quarterback
• enforcer
• political navigator

This model is interesting when each trait is looked at as a personality type in a well-rounded group, but does it have a place when thinking about a one-man band, so to speak, a one-person book design practice such as I run?

No surprise, else why would I write this, but I answer the above question with a resounding, “Yes!”

My inner cheerleader, if you will, lights the spark for each project and task I take on, whether it is beginning work on a book—where it is particularly easy for me to light the proverbial fire, as I simply never et tired of the feeling of starting new and actually get excite like it is the first time, over and over again—or jump-starting my engine for another round of promotion and finding work.

The industry activist in me is also a natural facet of my personality, as I enjoy reading about book design and typography, and hearing how my fellow practitioners go about plying the book design trade. As a one-man band, I find it generally impossible to make time to attend industry events, although there are one or two that I always keep an eye out for to see if my schedule can somehow allow me to participate. As it is, I make an effort to make time to get hold of book, articles, blogs, and forums on the subject of making books.

Tech guru is less a title for me than “technology junkie.” I rarely see a new version or possible upgrade to my tools, hardware and software, that I don’t automatically want. It happens that I work on Apple’s Macintosh platform and a trip to the Apple Store, at any time, is like a trip to the toy store before Christmas. The same can be said for looking at the mail-order catalogs for Macintosh-compatible peripherals and software. But in addition to the fun of it, there is no doubting the necessity of staying abreast of the latest trends and developments for doing what I do at top quality and most efficiently.

My emotional quarterback keeps me focused on each job I am contracted for. When a client presents unexpected demands or a job challenges that I did not foresee, this is the part of my personality puzzle that keeps my eye on whatever task I need to perform. It is no small wonder to have the Internet to allow me to sit in place in my studio and research, contact the client or fellow book designers, and collect the world of information that makes it possible to meet such demands and challenges.

Enforcer may sound a little sinister, but there needs to be a bottom line trigger that always remembers for all the love of creativity, I am something of a mercenary. Have gun will travel, and all that. Sometimes choices just need to be made. Occasionally they are tough, even harsh, or simply ones I wish I didn’t have to make. Yesterday I turned down an interesting-looking project with a prestigious client. Without this “enforcer trait” I just might have taken on one project too many at this time and jeopardized my ability to do any of them well.

The political navigator exists exclusively in my universe for dealing with clients, prospective and actual. I need to be able to listen to them, sometimes ferreting out their meaning and what they want to accomplish. I also need to speak to them in a way that demonstrates I understand their needs, can express this in a way that lets them know I do, and not express in an “expert’s way” that puts them off.

See, sometimes there is an “I” in T-E-A-M.

Entry Filed under: freelancing