This is Angle #2 of the "Is self-employment a good fit?" framework.
(Intro | Angle #1)

Self-employment, as a consultant or otherwise, can unlock many freedoms due to the fact that there are simply less people involved in your day-to-day operation:

• No weekly team meetings
• No chain-of-command
• No HR approvals
• No RACI charts
• No stakeholder management
• I’m sure you could name a few others…

At the same time, self-employment doesn’t exempt you from needing to interact with others.

Remember, your clients are people first, and your ability to meet, influence and collaborate with them is critical to selling and delivering real impact.

Thus, an outward social orientation is an essential ingredient for success, even as a soloist.

Now, this is not to say if you’re a classically-defined extrovert you’ll do great in self-employment, and if you’re an introvert you’ll struggle.

It’s not that simple.

In fact, part of the appeal of self-employment for introverts might be the absence of a ‘forced community.’

Meanwhile, some extroverts can struggle with the lack of a built-in social outlet that a corporate setting usually provides.

Instead, the question is:

• Are you comfortable seeking out and building new connections?

To gauge this for yourself, consider the following:

Professional behaviors:

• Do you (or did you) seek out connections outside your immediate team or function while in corporate?
• Do you participate in employee affinity groups?
• Do you attend or organize team social events?
• Do you look forward to in-person offsites or conferences?
• Do you attend professional networking events in your city or online?

Personal behaviors:

• Do you regularly invite new people into your social groups?
• Do you join new clubs, classes, communities to actively expand your circles?
• Do you seek out group volunteering opportunities in your area?
• Do you instinctively introduce yourself to “strangers” (when appropriate)? E.g. on vacations/holidays, at parties, etc.
• When you see someone at an event or on the street that you’ve met once before, do you make a point to acknowledge them and say ‘hello’?

Your responses here should start to indicate how outward your social orientation is.

Remember, this isn’t about being a social butterfly at all times — rather, it’s about finding evidence of your comfort with engaging with new people regularly.

Next up: Tomorrow’s angle focuses on what you do with your lightbulbs 💡…

💡

-Wes