It’s been 10 years since I went freelance and my aim wherever I’m working is always to do myself out of a job.
I’ve failed at this. Or I’ve succeeded depending on how you look at it.
Let me explain. My aim when working with people is to pass on knowledge and advice and to fire their imagination get them thinking. I want them to do their job much better, to win awards and to get on in their career. I don’t want to do their job. See? That’s what I mean about working to do myself out of a job.
Over Christmas and New Year, looking back not just on the last 10 years but further I’ve reflected that I’ve always been fascinated by story telling.
When I was a reporter in the Black Country, I was fascinated at how I could use my skills to unearth a story. How a chat with a contact could throw new light or a trawl through an agenda could find a front page. When I moved to local government, I was fascinated at how the internet could transform the stories I was trying to tell. As a freelancer I continue to be intoxicated at how people can use those ingredients to tell stories that make a material difference.
I have a strapline on my logo ‘Future comms made easy’. I probably should do more with that. I spend a lot of time trying to understand communications, what’s changing and what’s evolving so you don’t have to.
One incident sticks in my mind from the past 10 years. I was being sent a £50 Amazon voucher from someone who had been on a workshop. “Thanks so much,” the message read. “I wouldn’t have got that promotion without what I learned in your workshop.” I couldn’t have been happier. I love seeing a bit of teaching that’s taken root that’s really made a difference. The credit is entirely with them.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing in that time. One direction I believed in early in that decade came to a stressful end. Better ones emerged. I read once how freelancers work 70 hours a week for themselves so they don’t have to work 38 hours for someone else. How true.
Since 2013, I’ve worked with 1,052 organisations from very large ones to the very small. Eighty per cent of those I’ve worked with have been in the public sector. Every single one has been faced with the same challenge. In short, communications has been evolving fast but the rest of the organisation doesn’t realise.
In that time I’ve worked closely with or trained people from:
293 local government organisations
211 NHS Trusts
175 private sector organisations
74 third sector organisations
73 central and devolved government organisations
62 housing bodies
40 further education colleges
37 membership organisations
26 police forces
25 Universities
24 fire and rescue services
9 national parks
3 EU organisations
That also works out at 5,675 people I’ve trained in some way. If you’ve come to one of my sessions or if you’ve brought me in to help a very sincere ‘thank you’.
Thank you also to Elaine who has looked after my invoices diligently and workshop delivery colleagues Steven, Sophie, Julia, Ben, Sarah and David. Thank you to David and Sarah for making the Public Sector Comms Headspace Facebook group fly. Thank you also to Nick for inspiration in the early days. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to make 12 commscamps fly including Kate, Anne, Bridget, David, Emma, Josephine, Kate, Leanne, Sweyn, Eddie, Albert and Lucy.
By way of thanks I’m giving away gratis 10 free training places to subscribers on my email. If you’re already on the email, thank you. If you’re not, now is the time to sign-up for it here by January 19. I’ll select names at randdom from my subscriber list.
For a chance to win one of the training places sign-up for my weekly email here. You can find about training I offer here.