I’m an Independent Consultant

I’ve jumped.

After 7 years of ThoughtWorks, 2 years of Pivotal, and a couple of small contracts in between, I’ve gone independent. I’m looking for work as a coach, trainer, or facilitator – mostly focusing on software teams that want to work on their process. So, not very far from what I was doing – I expect engagements will be a good deal shorter and won’t be doing any more straight development work.

A lot of work

I really thought I’d have more free time. In fact, between the gigs I’ve been fortunate enough to land, finding and preparing talks to give,, meeting people at networking events, reading everything I can get my hands on, and writing on my blog, my website, and about facilitation patterns, I’ve got more on my plate than I could ever actually do. Nevermind the non-profit I serve or the dance classes I teach. If it wasn’t for GTD, I’d never see my wife or friends.

Still, this is way more fun than I’ve had at work in a while. I seem to be getting the most important and strategic things done, and my wife has been giving me a ton of support. I’m also getting better at saying “no”, thank God.

Finding work

I’m not sure I can claim to have a fully developed marketing “campaign” yet, but I’m getting there. I’m reading and working through Book Yourself Solid, a book that has been three times recommended to me. It’s good.

My current strategy is to play to my strengths. I’ve got a lot of targeted experience and knowledge about enabling agile teams. Face-to-face, I’m a good listener, a decent connector, and gosh darn it, people like me. I’m trying to put myself in front of as many people as I can and be excellent. So I’ve been giving talks and leading exercises at conferences and user groups. I’m also focusing on establishing deep connections with people. I want to find your pain and help you with it. Maybe that means connecting you with someone else, suggesting a book, giving you some free advice, just listening, or talking about how I could help you in a professional capacity.

So far, it’s working well. I’ve gotten a few leads and a bit of work, and I get to spend my time helping people from a place of integrity – not what I thought marketing would feel like.

What I need from you

If you’ve worked with me in the past, you now know I’m available, so keep me in mind next time you hear about a team that’s struggling. I’m also looking to collect some quotes about how awesome I am, so send those my way :).

I’m in the business of helping and connecting people right now. Let me know what’s blocking you, maybe I can help.

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