The 3 identities every freelancer must manage
This is going to be a short blog. But, I hope, an impactful one.
I’ve been running my freelance business for nearly a decade now. And over that time, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and teach over 1,000 other freelancers through my book and course.
I’ve also noticed that every single freelancer has to inhabit three different identities:
A CEO
An individual contributor
A human person
We balance these every day, even if we’re more heavily leaning on one vs. the other on a regular basis.
Diving into each a little bit…
Growth: The CEO identity
When you’re in your CEO self, you want to see growth. Your mind is on sales, customer success, delivery systems, and any other marginal efficiencies that mean more revenue and more profit.
As a result, this identity is hamstrung by lack of systems—when you want to grow but it’s all haphazard, welcome to your CEO self’s worst nightmare.
Execution: The individual contributor (IC) identity
Hello, getting sh*t done.
When you’re in your IC self, you are delivering for clients and getting all your admin done. This is the core of every freelancer—after all, you got into this business cause you can do things for clients.
Unfortunately, that means this identity is held back by trying to do everything with hustle. That only gets you so far (this is a note to myself as much as it is to you).
Humanity: The human person (HP) identity
At the end of the day–and most of the way through it–you are a real, live, human person.
When you’re in your HP self, you are balancing emotions and ensuring the other two identities you have within you don’t run you into chaos (CEO) or into the ground (IC).
And guess what? The human strengths in you suffer if you don’t rest (again, a note to myself as much as it is to you).
The three identities need to work together
Don’t fight the strengths and weaknesses of each. Instead, find out how they work together for you.
This will look different for everyone, but in general:
CEO + HP = Work/life balance and bigger picture perspective
CEO + IC = Streamlined delivery and scalable intellectual assets
HP + IC = Honouring personal commitments and respecting rest
Go forth.
