Charles de Gaulle Airport
As I’ve often written here, I’ve been fortunate as an independent consultant. I have been kept both busy and challenged throughout the “interesting times,” in the Chinese sense, of the last two years.
Along the way, I made the decision that I wanted to remain independent — alone. I don’t want to build another marketing services firm; I’m happy the way things are.
And I am beginning to figure out why I like it this way.
First, all of my client time is spent doing actual work. I don’t have to spend time distributing and delegating. I don’t have to spend (much) time on business development or marketing. Time spent translates directly into durable deliverables which help clients drive business forward. Whether it’s a white paper for content syndication, or the agenda, venue and content for a three-day sales meeting in two languages, I get to leave fingerprints all over the place.
Second, I can move into and become part of my clients’ teams much more easily this way. Agency teams (to this day) roll up in multiples of four; they are counting and tracking time to the six-minute block across multiple hourly rates; the whole experience tends to reek of overhead. A loner can be where he or she needs to be. Get out quickly if that’s wise. Far easier to demonstrate value for the client.
Oddly, it’s by being a lone wolf that I can quickly become embedded within the client organization and team. I do a lot of work as part-time CMO. My effectiveness is defined by moving in, getting to know the business, the team and their skills, and getting a detailed action plan in place — ASAP. But as a contract consultant, who can be sacrificed swiftly should business conditions require, I’ve got to remain agile. It’s a strange balance to learn, but it’s extremely energizing.
How do you keep your balance?
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